If you weren't spooked out by the trailer, the movie will certainly give you enough chills. This acclaimed Spanish film was produced by Guillermo Del Toro who directed Pan's Labyrinth, one of the best foreign films in years. Both feature children struggling in strife filled situations and whose unhappy lives are redeemed by 'happy' endings. The moody music for the opening credits immediately prepares you to be sucked into The Orphanage's twisted plot. If you're expecting a gore fest, it's not in this movie which relies heavily on suspense and a few jump-out-of-your-seat moments. And the surround sound is pretty good in enhancing the mood of impending doom.
The story unfolds slowly to allow you to pay attention to details that return to haunt you and the lead character played by Belen Rueda, an actress unfamiliar to me but quite convincing. In searching for her missing son, she relives strange incidents from her past as a resident in the orphanage that's now her present home. Her search leads her into another kind of labyrinth filled with maternal fears, forgotten memories, and frightening discoveries. She's living through an endless nightmare that gets worse as the plot progresses.
Geraldine Chaplin, who's fluent in Spanish after living in Spain for years, almost steals the film as a medium brought in amid the eerie doings to help the desperate mother find her son whose disappearance might be linked to past events from her childhood. You may remember her from years ago as Dr. Zhivago's wife. Now that she's older, she more resembles her famous parents, Charlie Chaplin and Oona O'Neill, daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill
This is a thoughtful film that might need a second look to pick up all the pieces. Be prepared to discuss this movie after it's over.
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