The Orphanage
Rent & Buy
A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage, intent on reopening it. Before long, her son starts to communicate with a new invisible friend.
What critics thought
J.A. Bayona's debut won over most critics as a haunted-house film that earns its dread through atmosphere and emotional investment rather than gore or digital tricks, with Belén Rueda's performance singled out almost universally as its anchor. The main fault lines were over whether the grief-drama at its core feels genuinely poignant or tips into exploitation of suffering, and whether the ending resolves the film beautifully or collapses it.
“deliberately aimed at viewers with developed attention spans. It lingers to create atmosphere, a sense of place, a sympathy with the characters, instead of rushing into cheap thrills”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun Times
“Rueda has a great pair of peepers for this assignment. When she looks one way and then the other, while skulking through the hallways of her childhood home, every nerve-wracking whatwasthat? registers, and how. Cayo is pretty dull by comparison, but Chaplin certainly is not.”
Michael Phillips·Chicago Tribune
“The year's best horror picture is also one of the simplest. The Orphanage makes little if any use of digital tricks to present its numerous terrors.”
Peter Howell·Toronto Star
“diverting, overwrought ghost story”
A. O. Scott·The New York Times
Genres
Horror, Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
J. A. BayonaDirector
Belén RuedaLaura
Fernando CayoCarlos
Roger PríncepSimón
Mabel RiveraPilar
Montserrat CarullaBenigna
Andrés GertrúdixEnrique
Edgar VivarBalaban
Óscar CasasTomás
Geraldine ChaplinAurora
Fernando VelázquezComposer
Sergio G. SánchezWriter
Óscar FauraCinematographyThe Orphanage
A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage, intent on reopening it. Before long, her son starts to communicate with a new invisible friend.
What critics thought
J.A. Bayona's debut won over most critics as a haunted-house film that earns its dread through atmosphere and emotional investment rather than gore or digital tricks, with Belén Rueda's performance singled out almost universally as its anchor. The main fault lines were over whether the grief-drama at its core feels genuinely poignant or tips into exploitation of suffering, and whether the ending resolves the film beautifully or collapses it.
“deliberately aimed at viewers with developed attention spans. It lingers to create atmosphere, a sense of place, a sympathy with the characters, instead of rushing into cheap thrills”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun Times
“Rueda has a great pair of peepers for this assignment. When she looks one way and then the other, while skulking through the hallways of her childhood home, every nerve-wracking whatwasthat? registers, and how. Cayo is pretty dull by comparison, but Chaplin certainly is not.”
Michael Phillips·Chicago Tribune
“The year's best horror picture is also one of the simplest. The Orphanage makes little if any use of digital tricks to present its numerous terrors.”
Peter Howell·Toronto Star
“diverting, overwrought ghost story”
A. O. Scott·The New York Times
Genres
Horror, Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
J. A. BayonaDirectorBelén RuedaLauraFernando CayoCarlosRoger PríncepSimónMabel RiveraPilarMontserrat CarullaBenignaAndrés GertrúdixEnriqueEdgar VivarBalabanÓscar CasasTomásGeraldine ChaplinAuroraFernando VelázquezComposerSergio G. SánchezWriterÓscar FauraCinematographyRent & Buy