The Orphanage

I'd never heard of The Orphanage until it was suggested to me about 2 weeks ago. I liked it so much, I'm blogging about it. So thank you for the suggestion, Sezduck!


This is a 2007, subtitled movie from Spain (original title: El Orfanato), which is a nice mix of thriller, drama and a tiny bit of horror. It's produced by Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), but that's the limit of his involvement.


It's about a family who moves into the abandoned house that used to be the orphanage where the mother grew up. Soon, the son is playing with invisible friends... You know that means plenty of strange things are afoot.


First, my only complaint: it does start a bit slowly. But stick with it. It gets interesting!


If you're worried about having to read a subtitled movie of this genre... Don't be. It works.


All the actors do fantastic jobs, as does the director. But my favorite part of this movie is how well this is written. 


Sergio G. Sanchez makes it realistic and plausible enough. Very little suspension-of-disbelief in needed. There's a fair amount of drama (done well) incorporated to make this work. But where he really shines is making it a throw-back to older, and I dare say, better horror movies. Incorporating little gore and more suspense. And best of all, attention to detail!