Long synopsis : Laura spent the happiest years of her childhood growing up in an orphanage by the seaside nursed by the keepers and fellow orphans whom she loved as brothers and sisters. Now, thirty years later, she returns with Carlos, her husband, and Simon, her son, to restore the long abandoned orphanage and have it open its gates again as a home for disabled children. The new home and mysterious surroundings awaken Simon’s imagination and the boy soon starts to spin a web of strange, fantastic tales and not-so-innocent games that begins to worry and entrap Laura, drawing her into the child’s strange universe which resonates with echoes of long-forgotten and disturbing memories of her own childhood. As the opening day draws near, the tension builds up within the family. Carlos remains skeptical and believes the boy to be making everything up in a desperate attempt to grab their attention away from the new nursing home project. But Laura can’t help to believe that something long hidden is looming in the old house, waiting to come out of its hiding place with appalling consequences for her family.

Cast

• Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Mabel Rivera, Montserrat Carulla, Andrés Gertrúdix

Crew

• Producer(s): Alvaro Augustin, Joaquín Padró, Mar Targarona
• Director(s): J.A. Bayona
• Screenplay: Sergio G. Sánchez
• DP: Óscar Faura
• Editing: Elena Ruiz
• Original Music: Fernando Velázquez
• Set Design: Josep Rosell

• Original Title: EL ORFANATO
• Genre(s): Drama, Fantasy, Mystery


• Production company: RODAR Y RODAR CINE Y TELEVISION, ESTUDIOS PICASSO
• Production date: 2006
• Language: Spanish
• Duration: 102 min
• Image Ratio: 0.00