The Orphanage

With the kid packed away on the bus back to her mum's and a slight feeling of deflation after Persepolis I was keen for more cinema and knew exactly where I was going. Between my house and Sainsbury's local there is an Odeon - I used to love the Odeon brand, but now they seem a bit like a mini-multiplex that gets everything slightly wrong and I don't normally go there any more - however, for some reason, in with all the rom-com and action movie pap, they seemed to be pushing the Spanish language horror film El Orfanato, which no one I know had yet to say a bad word about and several had said very good words about... It seemed perfect.

Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, starring the beautiful Belen Rueda and carrying the name of producer Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) as a marketing strategy, it was Spain's entry to the best foreign language category for many awards. Firstly, the tag of "horror" is not exactly right - it is a psychological thriller and a fairytale with horror aspects. Ignoring the contrived fact that our protagonist returns as an adult to live in the creepy orphanage she grew up in, everything about this film is pitch perfect. It has an old fashioned feel, with old fashioned sensibilities, namely fully rounded characters and and taut script full of "jumps" and unexpected twists and turns!

I literally can't remember the last time a film made my palms sweat and want to hide behind a big cushion, but this did it alright! I nearly fell out of my chair several times, so unexpected and brilliantly executed were the major scare moments. The production is beautiful too: great photography and period detail, and that intangible "Spanishness" of it all, which Almodovar and Del Toro (and now Bayona) capture wonderfully. Then there is Rueda, who demands sympathy in a well judged performance, balancing female strength with the frailty and vulnerability of a child within an adult body and the fears of a parent. All in all, it is simply a great story, well told - tragic and meaningful.

This narrowly missed out on inclusion in my best of the year list (see 28th April entry), which it would definitely have made into the second ten and maybe even the top ten. As it is, this is an early contender for next years list and certainly a film I look forward to seeing again any time.