Orphanage, The

Aroview: Exemplary exercise in suggestive horror storytelling from first time feature director Bayona, with Belen Rueda superb as a woman who returns to her childhood orphanage to encounter malevolent spooks and the mysterious disappearance of her adopted son.

While not short on hair-prickling moments, this is also a delicate study of maternal loss that is emotionally satisfying and involving, and the controlled direction easily lives up to the work of producer/mentor Guillermo Del Toro, from whom the film inherits its romantic and stylistic aesthetic.

NZ International Film Festival 2008

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