(2007)
4
Michael Buening
The Orphanage is an assured and promising feature debut from director Juan Antonio Bayona. Like executive producer Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone, it's a classically gothic character-driven ghost story about a woman (Belén Rueda) who attempts to reopen the orphanage where she was raised and gets distracted after her son is abducted by the spirits of her childhood friends. Bayona builds on the premise by drawing on a wide variety of fantasy/horror sources, including Peter Pan, Halloween, and Poltergeist (in an entertaining séance scene with Geraldine Chaplin as the medium). His fondness for cheap but effective scares doesn't get in the way of screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez's smart plotting, which emphasizes psychological twists over supernatural explanations. The Orphanage doesn't break new ground in horror films, but Bayona and Sánchez take familiar ghost-story ingredients -- from the lighthouse on the shore to dank cellars, shacks, and caves -- and refresh them with skillful storytelling and a sharp entertainer's knack for pleasing an audience. The Orphanage was featured in the 45th New York Film Festival.
awards for The Orphanage on AllMovie
The Orphanage (2007)
Broadcast Film Critics Association
|
Nominated |
Best Foreign Language Film
|
2007 |
Chicago Film Critics Association
|
Nominated |
Best Foreign Language Film
|
2007 |
Golden Satellite Award
|
Nominated |
Best Foreign Language Film
|
2007 |
Goya Awards
|
Nominated |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best Art Direction
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Costume Design
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Editing
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best Executive/Line Producer
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best Makeup and Hair
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best New Actor
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best New Director
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Original Score
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Original Screenplay
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Picture
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best Sound
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best Special Effects
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Supporting Actress
|
2007 |
London Film Critics Association
|
Nominated |
Best Foreign Language Film
|
2008 |
New York Film Festival
|
Presented |
Film Presented
|
2007 |
Ohio Film Critics
|
Won |
Best Cinematography
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Foreign Language Film
|
2007 |
Palm Springs International Film Festival
|
Presented |
Film Presented
|
2008 |
Toronto International Film Festival
|
Presented |
Film Presented
|
2007 |
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