El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Geraldine Chaplin

Laura purchases her beloved childhood orphanage with dreams of restoring and reopening the long abandoned facility as a place for disabled children. Once there, Laura discovers that the new environmen...( read more  read more... )t awakens her son's imagination, but the ongoing fantasy games he plays with an invisible friend quickly turn into something more disturbing. Upon seeing her family increasingly threatened by the strange occurrences in the house, Laura looks to a group of parapsychologists for help in unraveling the mystery that has taken over the place.

Flixster Users

85% liked it

Critics

86% liked it

R, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona

Released: December 28, 2007

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DVD Released: April 22, 2008

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Top Flixster Reviews


  • April 16, 2009
    I enjoyed it but kept getting the nagging feeling that I'd seen it all before...
  • March 28, 2009
    A rare type of film that can be creepy one moment and tender the next. Well-made and intriguing but it's not something I'll ever want to watch again for reasons I can't explain without ruining it.
  • March 1, 2009
    A great Spanish ghost story/thriller which I'm sure said it was directed by Guiilermo Del Toro? I saw the trailer and had to see this. It's very creepy at times, largely due to the spooky location. It's a very good story well told and directed. Reminded me of The Others, The 6th ... ...( read more )
  • February 15, 2009
    Simon: Can my new friend come home to play with us.
    Laura: What is his name?
    Simon: Tomas.

    This is something you just do not see very often anymore, a damn good horror movie. It has tension, scares that are not the cheap jump kind, some creepy images, a good story, and well ... ...( read more )
  • November 22, 2008
    Super stylish chiller with a heart. Successfully combines unsettling material with melodrama, presented with slick sound and visuals. Commanding performance from Rueda forms its emotional heart.
  • July 3, 2009
    A really good film. It created a confusing state of emotions at times but still it was good. Yet I am sure this was directed by Guillermo Del Toro?? Hmmm in fact I am positive.

Critic Reviews


View more El Orfanat... reviews at RottenTomatoes.com
January 9, 2008
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Beautifully conceived and composed, it's eerie, sometimes frightening and surprisingly moving. full review

January 7, 2008
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

The film is less of a shocker than an adventure in anxiety, testing and twisting some of the classic studies in infantile curiosity. full review

January 7, 2008
Kurt Loder, MTV

...the movie leaves you feeling not simply wrung-out by shock and carnage, but genuinely spooked. full review

January 4, 2008
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

Like the best of horror films, it gets under your skin not with gore or cheap jolts but with an unnerving, ever-building tension, and with images that remain with you long afterward, interrupting your... full review

January 4, 2008
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

Ms. Rueda is such a gifted actor that she keeps this movie alive through thick and thin. full review

January 4, 2008
Claudia Puig, USA Today

In a season filled with dark-themed films, it stands out as an elegantly mounted, surprisingly humane but terrifying horror thriller well worth seeing. full review

January 2, 2008
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

The Orphanage a diverting, overwrought ghost story from Spain, relies on basic and durable horror movie techniques.

December 28, 2007
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A superior ghost story. full review

September 19, 2007
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

A ghost story in which character motivation is haphazard and scares as scarce as narrative logic. full review

Comments


  • jonathanstephenson
    June 10, 2008
    El Orfanato (The Orphanage) Hi Alexander, this sounds like a movie I would like very much, thanks for your review!
  • maloube
    May 20, 2008
    Rente ayer la pelicula y me ha encantado. No me esperaba tanto! Si me fue un poco predecible en algunos momentos, pero no dejo de sorprenderme. Mas que una pelicula de horror y/o suspenso, es una viva representacion de lo que es cine y muy bien hecho.
  • BurymeinBlack3
    March 19, 2008
    Actually Lovecyn4eve I agree it slowed down a bit but it was a beautiful ending showing that she eventually had to die to get her child back and that the supernatural were looking for someone to take care of them. That scene of Thomas walking towards her I must say that was quite frightening that will be in a dream of mine soon I'd say not good.
  • GhostHunterGuy
    March 3, 2008
    This was an amazing movie. I loved it. I have to say the scariest part was honestly the home videos. They were jsut freaky in their own way.
  • sofiahauffe92
    March 2, 2008
    me parecio un film exelente!! muy bunas actuaciones, un escenario magnifico y la trama en si.. dios!! super buena, y con lo del final, por dios!! maravilloso uno nunca se imagina que ese seria el final! y estoy impresionada por que de verdad que las peliculas españolas no son de mi gran agrado pero esta de verdad que me dejo boca abierta
  • AussieJenni
    February 10, 2008


    Official sites for El Orfanato (The Orphanage) (2007)


    http://www.theorphanagemovie.com/

  • lovecyn4ever
    January 8, 2008
    Beautifully shot,great atmosphere,stunning score with sound effects & suspenseful moments that makes it a creepy ghost film but with a plot hole & a weak ending.I was expecting a shocking finale & great twist.The film manage to get the audience jumping at times which is a good thing.
  • sarness
    November 4, 2007
    esta pelicula esta muy bien!
  • dafne323
    November 1, 2007
    me ha encantado la pelicula!esta genial y consigue que al final de la peli la gente se quede pensando a cerca de ella.enorabuena belen!
  • linkiniana
    October 28, 2007
    A mi me ha encantado. Belen me ha sorprendido y mucho!!! Una de las pelis que mas destacan españolas. ^^ Me ha encantado.

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