Not necessarily a horror, but an eye opener to the vital nature of the human spirit

Rating: 10/10 (8 March 2008)

-----Possible Spoiler(s)----- "Why are you wearing that stupid man-suit?" was a brilliant quote by Frank from the movie "Donnie Darko", which is a quote that treads on the path of "The Orphanage". The movie "The Orphanage" has been a delightful surprise, which is to say that the movie, looking beyond the surface, is a delightful tale seeking to elevate the importance of the human spirit.
It will be worthwhile to mention that the movie uses very effective strategies to convey its archaic message. One of the most powerful would be that of heart-throbbing emotion. Second to that would be the tone.
It is almost immediately after the introduction of the movie that we are introduced to Laura and her adopted son Simon. We see the engaging motherly love by Laura and the innocent love displayed by Simon and are, thusly, conveyed the powerful relationship between the two. Throughout the movie we see series of examples of affection between Laura and Simon, which concretely establishes the viewer's affinity towards these two characters.
The movie, then, begins to investigate a curious tone when the viewer learns that the boy, Simon, sees entities from the spiritual realm. Numerous times, Simon clearly shows his excitement for being able to interact with these beings, but, on the contrary, Laura is desperate to find out the meaning of all of this. Since the viewer's perspective is almost always hidden from that of the boy, we are left with that of Laura. The viewer here feels the same desperate and acute situation of Laura. Once normally unexplainable events start to happen and the gravity of the situation reaches the climax, the viewer especially identifies with Laura's emotions.
It is important to mention the movie's overarching message. The movie seeks to denounce almost any importance on the material and to shine light on the spiritual. In fact, throughout the movie, we see no special material importance, but are constantly bombarded by spiritual factors whether that is the love between Laura and Simon or the deceased children of the Orphanage, spiritually the movie is opulent. As Frank from "Donnie Darko" would say, the human body is a cage for the human spirit.
Once Laura decided to commit suicide in order to be with her son, we enter the spiritual realm. The movie's depiction of the spiritual world is arbitrary, of course, and all the creators could do is to teleport the viewer to the past when the light tower was still working. All of this is sufficient to bring the viewer to tears by the end of the movie.
We realize the importance of the golden rule and the effect of it upon the human spirit. Above all else, we should love each other unconditionally. We ought not separate, hate, fear, and agonize ourselves, but love, because all of this will carry on to the spiritual.
"Whereas the body is nothing, the soul is everything." - Seiojih