The Orphanage - Will's review.

A woman buys the, now disused, orphanage which was her childhood home, and moves her family into it, planning to turn it into a small care home for children with special needs. Her son, Simon, a young boy with an history of imaginary friends, claims to have made a group of new friends in the house, including his new best friend, Tomas.

During an argument with his mother, Simon goes missing, and she starts to see his 'friends'...

I don't want to give too much away about this one, as there are multiple little twists and turns, and a fair amount of misleads; I was sure I had everything pegged by the time Simon went missing, and for a long time it looked like my theory was right. In the final act the rug was yanked from under me, and the truth about Simon's disappearance is borderline genius!

As with Pan's Labyrinth, Del Toro directs a great looking movie, and weaves a compelling story in which reality and imagination are so entwined that, even by the time the credits roll, it is often difficult to tell what is 'real'. 

Save one brief scene, in the aftermath of one of my favorite types of scares (I'm not giving it away, but it's used in Final Destination and Bride of Chucky) there's little or no gore in this film, opting instead for a spooky atmosphere - if you enjoy traditional ghost stories, this is one for you!

I was slightly concerned by the ending which (to avoid spoilers) was supposed to end on a particular mood, but really wasn't that thing when you think about it; indeed this is indicative of the films only problem; if you think about it too much after you've watched it, 'fridge logic' will kick in, and you'll realise that parts of it don't make sense. 

That said, this gripe seems minor when held up against the rest of this compelling, beautiful, spooky, movie.