Belen Ruenda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Princep
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona

The Orphanage (El Orfanato) closed the Spanish Film Festival this year and is now on general release. The film won eight Goyas (the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars) and was Spain’s top-grossing film of 2007.

There have been many significant Spanish films focusing on children that have been understood as commentaries on Spain’s traumatic political past under Franco. See if you think this is one of them.

The Orphanage is a gothic thriller about Laura (Belen Ruenda) who returns to the now abandoned orphanage she lived in as a child to start up her own home for children with disabilities. The house is haunted and Laura’s young son, Simon (Roger Princep) develops a disturbing invisible friend and a dangerous game of hide and seek. Simon’s involvement with the house’s dark past ultimately leads Laura on a quest to discover its secrets.

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