The Orphanage

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2008)

Laura's(Belén Rueda) beloved HIV positive adopted son, Simón(Roger Príncep) disappears and if she wishes to find him, will have to play a game with the ghosts of children she once knew as a little orphan girl, the victims of a secret tragedy. While those around her consider Laura's quest for the location of her son, through some idea that ghost children know where he's located, a lost cause, she will do whatever it takes to find him. Carlos(Fernando Cayo), a doctor, tries, to no avail, convincing his wife Laura to abandon a foolhardy search that so often yields few answers. Yet, as she pursues Simón's whereabouts, horrifying truths about those children she once knew surface. This film follows Laura through the clues the children leave behind. The setting is at an orphanage, the very one Laura once lived as a child, for which she hoped to raise mentally handicapped kids.
I guess the R-rating is for a minor few displays of disturbing images(..such as a key character's facial damage after being hit by a truck, a fingernail removal, & a broken bone protruding from the skin of Laura's leg)which is a shame because this is actually a rather harmless ghost story regarding a woman's endless search for the son she adores. Dogged and determined, despite how others try to convince her that the mission was fleeting, Laura's pursuit brings such an emotional depth to this, and kudos goes to the performance of Rueda as the mother. I think Rueda brings that key mixture of motherly paternal love and warmth definitely needed and it's important that we care about this search..the film hinges on our desire for her being rewarded. Although, the reward she receives may not be the way we would intend it to be, in the traditional sense, but it certainly packs an emotional wallop thanks in part to Rueda. Cayo, as the suffering husband who wishes to find their son, yet soon loses faith of ever finding him, while trying to heal, I think does a good job at pointing out how most of us, looking at the situation from a more grounded realistic view, would probably react to Laura's demand to continue. The film shows the influence of Guillermo del Toro as director Bayona obviously received a few pointers in the style because he has a visual command that beautifully swept me off my feet in how he photographs the film. This will try more impatient viewers because Bayona's film is a slow-burner, building the mystery, as layers are unpeeled. There's a creepy sequence with a medium, trying to find what is plaguing the orphanage, that I thought works really well, summoning the spirit of "The Changeling". Other than the orphanage itself, the director makes good use of a lighthouse and beach-front as well.