10/2:The Orphanage

Hey look! I'm already behind. Only took a day. Anyway, here is yesterday's movie:

10/2 For today's horror flick I watched one that has been recommended to me forever, the Guillermo del Toro-produced The Orphanage. Having all the trappings of the type of gothic horror that is part and parcel to del Toro, The Orphange is a different and refreshing take on the ghost story. Plus, there's creepy kids, which is always a win, right?

Damn kid, way to turn up the creep to 11, huh?

The Orphanage focuses on a young couple and their adopted son (Simon) who doesn't know he's adopted (seriously, if movies have taught us anything, tell your damn kid they're adopted). The mother (Laura) grew up in an orphanage that she loved, despite it being Creep House Central. As luck would have it, the house has been put up on the market so they decide to buy it. It doesn't take long for Simon to start hanging out with invisible friends (RED. EFFING. FLAG) and leading them from sea caves with sea shells to the house (REDDER. EFFING. FLAG). Eventually Simon goes missing... but where is he?

Dun. Dun. Duuuunnnnn.

All joking aside, The Orphange is a brilliant ghost story that not only handles it's ghosts in a unique way but also humanizes them, making them figures that aren't just vehicles for jump scares but have a life and sadness all their own. Which is inherently what ghosts are, right? Sadness embodied in an imprint left on the earth. The movie also delves deeply into a mother's pain and flaws as Laura tries to make sense of the loss of Simon. The ending of the film is mind-blowingly brilliant, giving my wife and I a solid 10 minute conversation after the closing credits on what our interpretation of it was. That's truly cinema at it's most powerful.

Guillermo del Toro has proven across the films he puts his name to that he wants to gives ghosts the depth they're due (a prime example being his magnum opus The Devil's Backbone). The Orphange excels at this, giving us a heartbreaking yet beautiful ghost story.

10/10