I am not easily frightened by movies, but “The Orphanage,” a superb haunted-house story from Spain, thoroughly got to me both times I saw it.
Guillermo del Toro – who directed my favorite film of 2006, “Pan’s Labyrinth” – produced this auspicious directorial debut by Juan Antonio Bayona, from a 10-year-old script by Sergio G. Sanchez.
This is the sort of movie that gets under your skin from the opening sequence set at an orphanage on the Spanish coast, where Laura bids farewell to five playmates after going off with her new parents.
Thirty years later, Laura (Belén Rueda of “The Sea Inside”), her doctor hubby (Fernando Cayo) and their 7-year-old son, Simon (Roger Princep), take up residence at the long-abandoned orphanage, which Laura wants to turn into a home for handicapped youngsters.
Soon, Simon begins reporting conversations with imaginary friends, and, even more disturbingly, makes creepy drawings that stir faint memories in Laura.
Then, a scary woman claiming to be a social worker (Montserrat Carulla) shows up and accidentally reveals to Simon that not only is he adopted, he’s HIV positive.
Simon suddenly disappears.
Six months later, Laura is convinced Simon is still alive, though probably desperately ill without his medications.
She turns to Aurora (Geraldine Chaplin, fantastic), a medium who wanders the house in a trance and says the youngster’s fate is connected to Laura’s orphan pals all those years ago.
I’m not going to give away any more, except to say that by this point Laura is walking a very fine line between fantasy and reality.
And that the filmmakers are adeptly drawing on classic literary sources like “The Turn of the Screw” and “Peter Pan.”
The setup is also reminiscent of “The Others,” another Spanish movie, but this is a much classier affair that scares by suggestion rather than with gore.
The acting is uniformly superb, the camera work and set design are haunting, and “The Orphanage” delivers well-earned tears at its beautiful conclusion. Go see it already.
THE ORPHANAGE
The year’s scariest movie.
In Spanish with English subtitles. Running time: 106 minutes. Rated R (disturbing images and content). At the Lincoln Square, the Empire and the Sunshine.