Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(from the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival) Director: J.A. Bayona
Writer: Sergio G. Sánchez
Starring: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Edgar Vivar, Geraldine Chaplin The recipient of seven trophies from the Barcelona Film Awards, fourteen Goya nominations, and a smattering of various critics societies' Best Foreign Film nominations, El Orfanato is the most masterfully executed psychological horror film since Alejandro Amenábar's The Others, and will also draw its fair share of comparisons to its producer's fantastical feature of the 2006/2007 awards season, Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. Perhaps then it is not by coincidence that Orphanato star Belén Rueda came to international attention in Amenábar's The Sea Inside before her role here as Laura. Laura returns to the spectacular coastal orphanage in which she was raised with the hopes of raising her adopted son, Simón, in a similar setting. But when Simón's "imaginary friends" (we'll let you be the judge) begin their games of treasure hunt, fun and fear reign with grave consequences, leaving the small boy missing and his mother burdened with the history of this haunting home whose present state of affairs won't rest until its past is addressed. In his first true feature directorial outing, Bayona skillfully withholds visual horror from the film, creating a palpable tension over the opening scenes. In this sold-out screening in Palm Springs (perfectly targeted to the local Spanish-speaking community in addition to all comers), collective gasps and shrieks prompted widespread nervous laughter as the audience experienced doses of classic chills. Bayona's use of silence preceding any event nicely prepares the slate for his scares. Games familiar to English-speaking audiences, such as "What's the time, Mr. Wolf?," play out ironically at the Good Shepherd Orphanage, and masks, caves, coves and creaks continuously raise the ire of the senses. Every character in the film seems to carry his or her own set of secrets and wishes, and the closest thing to evil comes cleverly in the form of an old and seemingly harmless woman. The acting all-round is superb, Roger Princep as the young Simón is a heartbreaker with enormous talent, and Rueda is again a marvelous discovery as the devastatingly desperate mother riding the rollercoaster of her son's disappearance. Since much about the film is left to its audience's individual interpretations and preferences, I'll simply say this: SEE IT. Images: Copyright, Picturehouse 2007 | 
