'The Orphanage'

A handful of kids play a game of "statues" in the misty garden of a grand, somewhat lugubrious house on Spain's northern coast. The house is a small orphanage run by nuns, and the little girl who's "it" is named Laura. She's about 7, clearly the leader of the group, and is about to be adopted by a family. She turns her back to the other children and counts to three as they sneak up behind her and try to tag her. When she swings around, they freeze. This happens several times -- Laura turning her back to the approaching gang, the kids creeping up on her while she looks the other way, then stopping and hiding in plain sight when she whirls around -- until the scene starts to take on dreadful, uncanny connotations.

By Carina Chocano

December 28, 2007