Elegantly composed and beautifully morose

Rating: 9/10 (25 November 2014)

THE ORPHANAGE, produced by Guillermo del Toro, is a clever, creepy and surprisingly poignant psychological horror film about parents' relationships to their children and the loss of a child. The story is about Laura, who grew up in an orphanage, but now has decided to return with her husband and adopted child, Simon, to run it as a home for disabled children. However, things begin to get a little weird when Simon starts to tell her about his imaginary friends who live inside the house. Then Simon goes missing, and Laura and her husband, Carlos, do everything in their power to find him.
Aside from the genuinely unnerving atmosphere created in the film, the performances from the cast were all outstanding. Even the child actor who played Simon did a great job at showing a range of emotions. Still, the film belongs to Laura and her heartbreaking performance is the film's emotional core. There were a number of scenes that reveal information in a subtle way that is never manipulative and only adds to depth of the film. Only in the last act does it really succumb to the usual jump scares and a score that leads you by the hand towards the conclusion it wants you to reach. Even still, the setup was strong enough that this didn't really bother me that much.
Also, even though the horror was mostly of a psychological nature, there were some other elements there that worked and one that I felt was unneeded. There was precious little gore, but what grisly images they did show served the story and were potent enough that they didn't need to linger on them for too long. There's also some haunted house tropes peppered throughout, which is understandable considering the setting. Still, it didn't exclusively rely on these which was admirable. The one thing I thought was unnecessary was a middle sequence in which Laura and Carlos seek out a medium to figure out what might have happened in the house a long time ago. Up until this point, everything was treated in a mostly realistic way, but this paranormal detour just didn't fit to me. It was well-done, but ultimately unneeded, in my opinion.
Overall, THE ORPHANAGE was an excellently done horror film with some good scares and a tragic undercurrent that might make you well up with tears. It certainly had that effect on me. The performances were excellent and the atmosphere is palpable throughout. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys psychological horror films, although you might want to be careful if you're a parent with children.