Laura (Belén Rueda) is the new owner of an orphanage where she briefly lived as a child. Along with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and adopted son Simón (Roger Príncep), they plan to renovate the home for a new selection of children.
Simón, however, is soon making imaginary friends – friends who seem to be pushing him away from his parents by revealing the truth about his adoption and underlying sickness. When Simón goes missing, Laura comes to believe their new home holds a supernatural secret and that long-dead children are still out to play.
Screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez Fails to Deliver on Juan Antonio Bayona’s Promise
Here’s a film marketed and consistently quoted as being the next Pan’s Labyrinth (probably because Del Toro’s name was attached as producer to help the hype) as well as being a worthy successor to the likes of The Others. In itself, that’s a contradiction for this reviewer, seeing as how Toro’s Labyrinth is a genuine great, while Others is well-performed and well-directed – though resting on a deeply uninspired concept.
Antonio Bayonacertainly deserves recognition for his efforts, as there’s no doubt this is a well put together piece, visually strong and largely effective throughout. Hollywood bleeds through the nose to produce films like this, but when the highest of accolades start getting thrown about then a film better be something exceptional and here, at least, it was found far short of a visual masterpiece. And that's not the problem.
More concerning is that something more might have been expected from a conceptual standpoint, with scenes retracing steps taken by the likes of Sixth Sense, Poltergeist and, believe it or not, even Friday the 13th with the sub-story of a deformed boy’s murderous mother (heck, even Star Trek: TNG did an episode where an imaginary friend poses a real threat. Of course, that was an alien, if memory serves.)
Not that there aren’t some few exceptional – rather than original – moments, but ultimately the film is let down by a pretty mediocre script that routinely manufactures a plot to deliver it’s half-twist ending, while entirely foregoing the supporting characters who are practically ghosts themselves. It’s a good bet that the entire project was built around the scene of Laura’s playing an old game with the childrens’ ghosts, and only at this stage does the film really begin to excel. The damage, however, is already done, while even the few gory moments are too much at odds with the general tone, bludgeoning an atmosphere where the suspence is handled gracefully, in spite of it's predictability.
The Orphanage Cast
In the past five years, Belén Rueda seems to have been making a name for herself, having won an award for her part in 2004’s biographical drama Mar Ardento (a.k.a: The Sea Inside, which was coincidentally directed by The Others’ Alejandro Amenába). Rueda clearly put a lot into her role as Laura and, asked to carry the entirety of the film, she does so brilliantly. The same can’t be said of the written part of Laura, which can’t support the same burden.
The only other parts of any real significance were found to be shockingly lacking. Veteran actress Mabel Rivera manages the little asked of her as social worker Pilar, while Roger Príncep was asked too much in his role as Simón. Topping it off is predominant tv star Fernando Cayo as the husband, whose involvement is absurdly limited and frustratingly pathetic. He's not an actual character, but just an appendage of Laura’s personality, there to be very mildly supportive until he conveniently buggers off.
Screenwriter Sánchez did none of the actors any favours and is largely responsible for why this film is far from a true great. Great films simply don’t accomodate the number of weaknesses that can be seen here.
The Orphanage Summary
While this has delivered for many of it's audiences and critics, for some of us it may come across as little more than commercial sleight-of-hand, made to look and sound and feel like cinematic gold when it just isn’t.
Any comparisons, then, to Pan’s Labyrinth, are severely misguided and misleading (unless you didn’t like Labyrinth, in which case your demented mind might love this). Naturally, it’s better if readers just watch The Orphanage and make up their own mind, but as far as this one’s concerned, it doesn’t even compare to The Devil’s Backbone, which is a far better example of all-round film-making from cast and crew, in another story about a haunted orphanage, also from Del Toro (as director).
- Producers: Mar Targarona, Joaquín Padro, Álvaro Agustín, Guillermo del Toro
- Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
- Screenplay: Sergio G. Sánchez
- Starring: Belén Rueda, Mabel Rivera, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep
- Released: Oct 2007 by Esta Vivo! Laboratorio de Nuevos Talentos
- Running Time: 105 approx.
Note: Esta Vivo! is credited here as the sole production company, which it is not. For a full listing of these details, visit The Orphanage at IMDB.
