PICKING ON: THE ORPHANAGE
                             !!!!Spoilers!!!!

 The story:
 The movie opens with some children playing a game and a phone conversation about one of them, Laura, getting adopted.
 Flash-forward quite a lot later and Laura is 37 with an adopted child of her own. She and her husband plan to turn the orphanage into a small school for disabled children but on the opening day her son goes missing.
 Flash-forward 6 months and she and her husband are still looking. They are growing increasingly worried since their son has H.I.V. and needs to take medication regularly. It is also revealed that the social worker who visited them previously was not a real social worker and was also connected with the orphanage at one point. Coming back from a grief counseling session she sees the lady and chases her, only for the woman to get hit by a bus.
 It is further revealed that during Laura's time at the orphanage a young, disfigured boy named Tomas was kept there. Tomas was kept separate from the other children and wore a bag on his head whenever he went out. Which coincides with an apparition that attacked Laura and which is also the name of her son's invisible friend. It is also revealed that he died in a childish prank by the other kids at the orphanage.
 Laura becomes increasingly convinced that the ghosts at the orphanage are behind her son's disappearance. She contacts a paranormal research group. The psychic reveals that all of the other children were poisoned by the fake social worker lady as punishment for Tomas dying.
 The husband decides it's time to move on. Laura asks for two more days. She spends most of that time making things like they were in an effort to get the children to contact her. They finally do, eventually leading her to her son. Unfortunately it's too late to help him and in a heartbreaking turn it ends up that she herself locked him in accidentally. She kills herself and, as a ghost herself now, remains to be a mother to the ghost children of the orphanage.

 The Pickings:
 I actually find it really hard to pick on it because it was a great movie. It was shot beautifully. The atmosphere was oppressive, mysterious and in parts hopeful. And, my particular favorite, the actions of the people made sense. They did what normal people would do. There were absolutely no extraneous scenes that took you away from the plot. Every scene told the story.
 I don't really know why, after having seen Pan's Labyrinth, I expected a happy ending. I really don't. Guillermo del Toro seems to do bittersweet rather than happy and this movie is no exception. But I love it. It really seems the only possible outcome by the end. And I love the shot of Tomas standing in the group around Laura, finally included with no bag over his head to disguise his deformity. I Love It. It's not dwelt upon nauseatingly but naturally.
 About that bag on the head though. Really?! Way to make the poor kid feel even more like a freak by keeping him segregated from the other kids and making him wear a damn bag over his head when he goes out.
 They do pull a kind of cheat for a moment in making you believe that Simon is really alive when she finds him. I was like no way. He'd been gone for 9 months. No way he survived. But I honestly think now that it was her mind not being able to grasp the truth and that she was (no matter how accidentally) at fault.
 I also love the shot of her pulling off the St. Christopher medallion and dropping it. When her husband first gave it to her he said, "I'm not giving it to you, I'm lending it to you. You can give it back when we've found Simon." And then there's the closing scene showing her husband picking up the medallion, a door softly opens with no visible cause and he looks up and smiles. Because he knows that she had found Simon and that they are together. God, it's so beautiful. The scene is so peaceful and brightly lit but soft and clean.
 I really like the husband as well. He's not a huge character as most of it is centered on Laura but he's still a great character. He doesn't irrationally lash out, start an affair or be randomly mean to his wife. I honestly thought that it was coming and in an American remake it probably would have been the case. But they give him intelligent dialogue and he's actually *gasp* supportive of her.
 I also thought the actress who played Laura was great. I loved that she looked her age. Don't get me wrong. She was a beautiful woman but beautiful in a real way, not plastic and fake as hell. We need more of that.
 I can't recommend it highly enough. It balanced the creepiness and mystery perfectly.

 So, anyone have any comments? Disagree at all? Comment and let me know.  I love taking about movies and books with people. Please, please, be respectful of other people. People don't have to agree on the same things but they can disagree respectfully. I get so tired of seeing so much negativity everywhere that I'd like to keep the comments here Bitch-free.

 I'm currently reading The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons so I'll have that up in a few days.
 And I'll also be doing a review for the movie Vampire in Brooklyn.

 Till next time!