Chilling 2007 Spanish horror film, The Orphanage tells the story of a woman and her family returning to the home where she was cared for as an orphaned child. Her fond memories of growing up in the house are soon soured after her only child goes missing. As she searches and strains to find answers to the boy's disappearance, the alarming and long concealed past of the orphanage is slowly unearthed, piece by distressing piece. With heavy atmospheric presence, tension building sequences and cleverly placed plot devices, the story unfolds like a dark and brooding "Peter Pan" told through the experiences of the mother, losing her child to another world that she struggles to uncover and understand.

The film begins with Laura (Belen Rueda) as a child playing with her fellow orphans in the yard of the house, it's a beautiful day, it's sunny, all the children are smiling and laughing, yet we sense something amiss. We are then taken to Laura 30 years later awakening to her son calling out to her in the middle of the night in a haunting, distant and almost otherworldly voice. Simon (Roger Princep) is an adopted and very ill young boy, with a few "seemingly real" imaginary friends to keep him company. His father Carlos (Fernando Cayo), a doctor, cares for the boy the best that he can. He is a very practical and grounded character that Laura looks to for support and stability through their troubles and complications with Simon. They plan to reopen the orphanage for special needs children, but on the day of the welcoming party, Simon mysteriously disappears after finding out that he is adopted and dying of HIV. From there we are taken on a terrifyingly disturbing roller coaster ride through reality and the next life as Laura and Carlos do everything in their power to find their lost child. Over the course of a few months time, options begin to dwindle, though Laura's resolve is still intact, she begins to slip further and further into madness and desperation. Once Carlos decides to leave the house, we the viewer are left uncertain as to what's even real in Laura's world anymore.

Brought to us by first time Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona and his crew of equally fresh talent, with gorgeous cinematography and flawless special effects, The Orphanage is a classic tale of mystery, drama and suspense, produced by genre auteur Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone). The Orphanage is an intelligent ghost story, with very moving dramatic elements that add to the depth of our involvement with the characters and their plight. More than just a straight forward horror flick, the story weaves like a Hitchcockian thriller. Utilizing the process of building up to the point of release, only to leave you with greater anticipation than before. We are helpless to look away from this captivating film, watching every moment more fervently than the last, anxiously awaiting the next tragic turn of events in this obscure and somber journey through the passages of time and the mind's eye, illustrated by the strongest of bonds, between a mother and her child, the outcome is ultimately sorrowful, as well as beautiful. A must see film!