The Orphanage

Movie Sypnosis:

A woman discovers dark secrets hidden within her cherished childhood home in the supernatural drama The Orphanage, the feature film debut of young Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona. It’s a superbly atmospheric and emotionally powerful tale of love, loss and guilt. The Spanish female lead actress is the award winning Spanish actress Bélen Rueda. She portrays a mother desperate to rescue her family from the nightmare into which she ahs unwittingly led them. This film is about the fragility of life, the agony of loss and the depth of a mother’s love.

At an orphanage by the sea, a little girl named Laura has spent her childhood nurtured by an affectionate staff and surrounded by other orphans whom she loves like brothers and sisters. Laura is adored by them in return and the uniformed boys and girls happily trail her onto the property’s front lawn to play their favourite games. When the day arrives for seven year old Laura to leave with her new parents, the staff of the Good Shepherd Orphanage delays breaking the news until the last possible moment. They know the separation will be painful for everyone and that Laura’s friends will miss her terribly.

30 years later, Laura (Belén Rueda) return to the stately manor house that holds such a special place in her heart. The orphanage was abandoned years ago. Laura and her husband, Carlos (Fernando Cayo) plan to re-open it as a center for sick and disabled children. It will be a place where boys and girls (including the couple’s beloved seven-year-old adopted son with HIV positive, Simón) can play freely in the open air, enjoying the sunshine and nearby beach.

In its years of solitude, however, the orphanage has acquired a haunted, unhappy air. Simon, an inquisitive boy with a vivid imagination, is initially frightened by his new house and worries about the safety of his two imaginary friends, Watson and Pepe. Laura patiently reassurers her son, sharing her own rosy memories of the Good Shepherd Orphanage. Thus calmed, Simón begins to explore the building and its environs. After playing in a surf-slicked beach cove one day, Simón announces that he has befriended a little boy. Like his other playmates, his new friend, Tómas, appears only to him.

Simón’s circle of unseen friends quickly expands to include five more boys and girls, who tell cryptic stories and engage him in elaborate games that carry a suggestion of the sinister. Troubled, Laura allows herself to get sucked into her son’s eerie world, which seems to resonate with a faraway and disturbing echo of her own childhood experiences.

As the opening day of the children’s center approaches, tension grows among the family. Simón wants only to play with his invisible friends, frustrating his parents. But while Carlos believes he is merely acting out to get their attention. Laura suspects that her son’s behaviour is tied to something deeper and darker concealed within the house’s history. Then, while parents and children enjoy the party, Simón insists on playing in his own private world and disappears.

Convinced that her family’s survival is at stake, Laura sets out to earn what happened at the orphanage after she left. To the alarm of those she loves in the here and now, Laura plunges headlong into the past and into an isolated netherworld where the dead reach out to the living.

I went to watch this movie last nite. As for me, I think this movie is nt really horror, more to mystery chiller thriller. It's not scary, only a few scenes scares u off a little coz of sth happen or appear out of sudden/happen unexpectedly. If u want me to rate the scariness of this movie, I'll rate it 2/10. So, u knw hw unscary tis movie is. I still prefer Thai horror movies. The unforgettable Shutter! America's version of Shutter is not as good n scary as original Thai's version. After Shutter, I've never watch any horror movies that is more scary than it. Imagine me watching Shutter VCD alone in my house at nite 3 years ago.

Allrite, back to The Orphanage...this movie does not have much twist in its' story line. I kept wondering whr did Simón disappeared to after 6mth, then 9mth. 6-9mth is like too exaggerate long. Well, after watching the whole movie, I told my friend "I felt like as if I'm watching a movie for Mother's Day, but Mother's Day is over", LOL! Well, this movie is quite meaningful actually, it portrays more of a mother's love (even to her adopted child that is sick) rather than scary. So, if u're into real horror movies n very very scary ones, better not watch this or else u'll be disappointed.