The Orphanage
Flashback to Fall 2009. 17-year-old Harrison was taking a Film Studies class his senior year of high school. No one in my class had heard of the film when our teacher (also the principal) announced it for our lesson on foreign films, but it was clear almost immediately that the entire class was hooked from the very beginning. By the end of the film even the stoic football player I sat next to was in tears. The Orphanage was written by Sergio G. Sánchez ( The Impossible ) and directed by J. A. Bayona ( Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ). The Orphanage was made on a budget of $4 millions, made $233,323 upon opening, and went on to make $78,638,987 worldwide. It was released on September 10, 2007 and received positive reviews (it received a 10 minute ovation upon its premiere at Cannes). The Orphanage follows Laura (Belén Rueda, Julia’s Eyes ) who purchases the orphanage she grew up in to reopen it as a school for children with special needs. After her adopted son Simón (Rog...