By the far one of the best, scariest, most moving films I've ever seen, Luke and I spent the first half of it trying to decide whether or not we could handle continuing to watch it; it's that intense and suspenseful. But, unlike typical slasher flicks made these days, the scares conjured up by this team (director is Juan Antonio Bayona) are in what you're afraid is coming, rather than what actually does. It's like they played on our assumption that a gruesome death or flash to a scary screaming face is imminent after every long silence - but the trick that makes The Orphanage stand out is that scares don't come cheap. At one point my heart literally pounded for almost 40 minutes straight, but I think I only actually jumped once or twice. The fear just builds and builds and BUILDS until you think you're certainly going to explode.
The story revolves around a woman who decides to move back into the orphanage she lived in for a time as a child, whose own child ends up with "imaginary" friends. The awful things that take place, and the intertwining pasts of characters that unfold create an amazing world where you are heart-broken in one moment, and terrified in the next. This a touching, devastating, beautiful movie and I can not recommend it enough. At the end of it, Luke and I just sat there, blown away at how effectively this movie shook and entertained us, without pandering to obvious horror movie expectations.
You will love this movie, but be warned: Do NOT watch it alone.
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