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Dir. Juan Antonio Bayona

Rating: 6.5  |  0 User Reviews  |  Send to Friend

By Piers Marchant

The film, a horror/thriller from Spain, opens with a shot of an extremely overcast sky. As the camera pans down, you begin to hear the sound of children playing in the beautiful front yard of a remote castle-like mansion. Down where the children are frolicking, the sun is out and a gentle breeze blows cherry blossoms all around them. You don't forget that sky, though: That's some ominousness that means business. Such are the pleasures of Juan Antonio Bayona's film, a sort of patchwork of the stately spookiness of "The Others" (also filmed in Spain) coupled with the intricate puzzles and mis-read signs of a standard Japanese horror flick. Laura (Belén Rueda) and Carlos (Fernando Cayo) have recently purchased the aforementioned mansion, once an orphanage where Laura was raised, for the express purpose of making it a home for 'special' children. Along with them is Simon (Roger Príncep), a sweet-faced seven-year-old whom they adopted when he was an infant. It isn't long after they've moved in that an assortment of odd sounds and strange occurrences commence. As is the norm in these situations, Simon, imaginative and free-spirited is more in tune to the spiritual goings-on than either of his parents. When he suddenly vanishes without a trace, it is the endearing love of his adopted mother, whom vows to find him no matter the cost, that propels the film to its climax. Though filled with truly spooky set-to's -- the mansion sits a short walk from the ocean, and deep, dank caves, filled with foreboding -- the film does have its let downs, no more so than with Carlos, hugely underwritten and asked to do little more than be a plot device (ever the skeptic, he conveniently "takes off" to leave Laura to solve the mystery on her own); and the children spirits, once located, aren't exactly the stuff of Kubrickian terror -- they look tottering and unsteady, pretty much like seven-year-old actors. Nevertheless, the film is Rueda's to win or lose, and her steely maternity powers you through most of the dicey parts. Even when you can spot the end a mile away, the indefatigable love of a mother towards her child is a hard thing from which to turn away.

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