The orphanage (El Orfanato) - Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Juan Antonio Bayona
Threat advisory: Guarded - General risk of entertaining activities
Movie propaganda
A tale of love. A story of horror.
Laura (Belén Rueda) spent the happiest years of her childhood growing up in an orphanage by the seaside, cared for by the staff and fellow orphans whom she loved as brothers and sisters.
Now, 30 years later, she returns with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and Simón (Roger Príncep), their 7-year-old son, with a dream of restoring and reopening the long-abandoned orphanage as a home for disabled children. The new home and mysterious surroundings awaken Simón's imagination and the boy starts to spin a web of fantastic tales and not-so-innocent games...
A troubling web that begins to disturb Laura, drawing her into the child's strange universe which resonates with echoes of long-forgotten, deeply unsettling memories of her own childhood. As the opening day draws near, tension builds within the family. Carlos remains sceptical, believing that Simón is making everything up in a desperate bid for attention. But Laura slowly becomes convinced that something long-hidden and terrible is lurking in the old house, something waiting to emerge and inflict appalling damage on her family.
Theatrical propaganda posters
Target demographic movie keyword propaganda
- Film horror Spain orphan fantasy supernatural ghost paranormal haunted family children
Persons of interest
- Belén Rueda .... Laura
- Fernando Cayo .... Carlos
- Roger Príncep .... Simón
- Mabel Rivera .... Pilar
- Montserrat Carulla .... Benigna
- Andrés Gertrúdix .... Enrique
- Edgar Vivar .... Balaban
- Óscar Casas .... Tomás
- Mireia Renau .... Laura Girl
- Georgina Avellaneda .... Rita
- Carla Gordillo Alicia .... Martín
- Alejandro Campos .... Víctor
- Carmen López .... Alicia
- Óscar Lara .... Guillermo
- Geraldine Chaplin .... Aurora
- Carol Suárez .... Young Benigna
- Sergio G Sánchez .... Screenwriter
- Juan Antonio Bayona .... Director
Cinematic intelligence sources
- The orphanage (El Orfanato) official movie site
- The orphanage (El Orfanato) film production notes
- The orphanage (El Orfanato) QuickTime movie trailers
- Awards and film festivals:
- Barcelona Film Awards 2007: Won: Best Actress (Belén Rueda), Best Art Direction (Josep Rosell), Best Cinematography (Óscar Faura), Best Film, Best Film Editing (Elena Ruiz), Best New Director (Juan Antonio Bayona), Best Sound (Xavier Mas, Marc Orts, Oriol Tarragó); Nominated: Best Score (Fernando Velázquez), Best Screenplay (Sergio G Sánchez)
- Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2008: Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film
- Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2007: Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film (Mexico/Spain)
- Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain 2008: Nominated: Best Actress (Belén Rueda), Best Cinematography (Óscar Faura), Best Director (Juan Antonio Bayona), Best Editing (Elena Ruiz), Best Film, Best New Artist (Juan Antonio Bayona), Best Score (Fernando Velázquez), Best Screenplay, Original (Sergio G Sánchez)
- Goya Awards 2008: Nominated: Best Costume Design (Maria Reyes), Best Editing (Elena Ruiz), Best Film, Best Lead Actress (Belén Rueda), Best Make-Up and Hairstyles (Lola López, Itziar Arrieta), Best New Actor (Roger Príncep), Best New Director (Juan Antonio Bayona), Best Original Score (Fernando Velázquez), Best Production Design (Josep Rosell), Best Production Supervision (Sandra Hermida), Best Screenplay - Original (Sergio G Sánchez), Best Sound (Xavier Mas, Marc Orts, Oriol Tarragó), Best Special Effects (David Martí, Montse Ribé, Pau Costa, Enric Masip, Lluis Castell, Jordi San Agustín), Best Supporting Actress (Geraldine Chaplin)
- International Press Academy Golden Satellite Awards 2007: Nominated: Best Motion Picture, Foreign Film (Spain)
- São Paulo International Film Festival 2007: Nominated: International Jury Award (Juan Antonio Bayona)
- NB: Spanish language dialogue with English language subtitles
- Studios and distributors:
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
Having seen Pan's labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno) I have difficulty watching other Spanish supernatural horror films without a little disdain creeping in. The orphanage (El Orfanato) is a well-thought-out film, well-shot and well-performed but it failed to ensnare me. Orphans are everywhere these days, especially as superheroes and victims of sexual assault so finding one being haunted in her old orphanage seems a bit obvious.
I liked the twist, but.
The horror, Spain movie The orphanage (El Orfanato) is directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and stars Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep.
Government security censorship classification
MA 15+ (Strong supernatural themes)
Surveillance time
105 minutes (1:45 hours)
Not for public release in Australia before date
Film: 29 May 2008
Cinema surveillance images
