The Orphanage (2007)
The Orphanage blends a traditional haunted house ghost story with a missing persons thriller, set in a decaying estate that was once an orphanage. After living there as a child, Laura Rodríguez (Belén Rueda) returns to the orphanage with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and their seven-year-old son Simón (Roger Princep), planning to transform it into a haven for children with disabilities.
Soon, Simón claims to have befriended a boy named Tomás, who wears a disturbing sack with a painted-on smile. Laura also sees him appear throughout the grounds. Shot in muted colors, The Orphanage carries a deep sense of melancholy. After Simón mysteriously goes missing, the film moves toward a tragic and shocking ending that reveals the creepy children cliché is more than it seems.
