A tale of love. A story of horror.|May. 20, 2007|Spain|105 Min.|R
Genre: Drama;Horror;Thriller
Description: In Spain, a young girl named Laura García Rodríguez is adopted from an orphanage. Three decades later, adult Laura, portrayed by Belén Rueda, returns to the now-closed orphanage with her husband, Carlos Sánchez Rivera, played by Fernando Cayo, and their seven-year-old son, Simón, acted by Roger Príncep. Laura intends to reopen the orphanage as a facility for disabled children.
Simón claims to have befriended a boy named Tomás and sketches him wearing a sack mask. A social worker, Benigna Escobedo, played by Montserrat Carulla, visits the house to inquire about Simón. It is revealed that Simón is adopted and HIV positive. Laura becomes angry at Benigna’s intrusion and asks her to leave.
Later, Laura discovers Benigna in the orphanage’s coal shed, but she escapes. Simón teaches Laura a game that grants the winner a wish. Clues from the game lead them to Simón’s adoption file. Simón becomes upset, saying his new friend told him Laura is not his biological mother and that he will die soon.
During a party to celebrate the orphanage’s reopening, Laura and Simón argue, and he hides after she slaps him in frustration, which she immediately regrets. While searching for him, Laura encounters a child wearing a sack mask who locks her in a bathroom. After escaping, she realizes Simón is missing and cannot find him. That night, Laura hears loud noises coming from the orphanage’s walls. Police psychologist Pilar suggests Benigna may have abducted Simón.
Six months later, Simón is still missing. While searching for him, Laura sees Benigna, who is then killed in an accident. The police uncover that Benigna had a son named Tomás, who lived at the orphanage but was hidden due to a facial deformity.
Cast director: J. A. Bayona
Cast actor: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Mabel Rivera, Montserrat Carulla, Andrés Gertrúdix, Édgar Vivar, Óscar Casas, Geraldine Chaplin, Carmen López
Original name: El orfanato