The Orphanage is not a horror film. Or rather that’s too limiting a designation, and ultimately an inaccurate one. In truth, The Orphanage is a heartbreaking drama with horrific elements artfully inlaid. It’s a ghost story, a very good ghost story. Shortly after moving into the orphanage where she grew up, Laura’s son Símon makes a new imaginary friend, Tomás. What follows is a steady stream of eerie happenings and a descent not into madness, but into desperation—a sad tale framed and colored with seemingly disparate beauty. The plot unfolds with themes of loss, rejection, isolation, and death, pushing the audience into a place more of existential fear. The Orphanage is unexpectedly emotional, a film that bends what horror is supposed to be and creates something beautiful out of that.
