A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage, intent on reopening it. Before long, her son starts to communicate with a new invisible friend.
A frightening movie that earns its scares the hard way, generating unbearable tension through artful technique instead of computer.
– Peter Travers,
Rolling Stone,
7 Oct 2013
fresh:
The picture is a creepily effective exercise in gothic technique.
– Bob Mondello,
NPR.org,
18 Oct 2008
fresh:
At a time when American horror seems transfixed by graphic sadism, the acclaimed Spanish chiller El Orfanato harks back to an older tradition of psychological scares and things that go bump in the night.
– Tom Charity,
CNN.com,
18 Oct 2008
fresh:
[Director Bayona] has a fine career ahead of him.
– Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Oct 2008
rotten:
Alas, there's no Ahhhh! moment at the end to justify the mounting tension.