Laura spent the happiest years of her childhood growing up in an orphanage by the seaside, cared for by the staff and fellow orphans whom she loved as brothers and sisters. Now, thirty years later, she returns with her husband Carlos and their 7-year-old son Simon, with a dream of restoring and reopening the long abandoned orphanage as a home for disabled children. The new home and mysterious surroundings awaken Simon's imagination and the boy starts to spin a web of tales and not-so-innocent games. Carlos remains skeptical, believing that Simon is making everything up in a desperate bid for attention. But Laura slowly becomes convinced that something long-hidden and terrible is lurking in the old house, something waiting to emerge and inflict appalling damage on her family.

"The Orphanage" is yet another Spanish invasion unto our screens by producer Guillermo del Toro (who directed the successful violent fairy tale "Pan's Labyrinth"), who now brings us the auspicious debut of first-time director J. A. Bayona and first-time screenwriter Sergio Sanchez in mix of chilling horror of a haunted house with the breathless drama of a missing child.

Sanchez's rich screenplay begins in a beautiful countryside orphanage, where young Laura (played by Belen Rueda as an adult) happily spends the early part of her life surrounded by loving friends and her guardians. She is soon adopted and we fast track to roughly 30 years later, where she is now married to Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and has an adopted son named Simon (Roger Princep).

A sense of melodrama comes from the very grounds of the said orphanage, imposing an eerie feeling of childhood innocence. Its vast estate is a haven for undiscovered nooks and crannies, thus becoming nothing short of a big toy house to any child.

With her family in tow, Laura fondly moves back in to her old orphanage which has been abandoned since not long after her departure, intent on turning it into a home for disabled children. However, her son begins to befriend a group of imaginary friends - all of whom bear the same name as her childhood orphanage friends, except for one named Tomas, who sports a disturbing sack mask that's bound to terrify you as to what's underneath.

Her husband shrugs it off as another one of Simon's plea for attention but Laura is convinced something sinister had happened within the orphanage in the past. Tension mounts when Simon mysteriously disappears, and Laura is fighting her own sanity to recover her son, whom she is convinced has been taken by the ghostly children.

Laura's desperate search for her son takes us on an intense, seat-grabbing journey that's laden with suggestive scares. The suspense is debilitating - but it's an exciting kind of debilitating. The film doesn't propose run-of-the-mill horror, but instead takes on a sophisticated approach that can send shivers down every part of your body. There are jolts peppered throughout, but the fear resides in you from the first minute to finish.

The film employs trickery on the mind as to the authenticity of the ghosts, as well as Laura's sanity. Throughout, we are really trapped in Laura's perception of her surroundings - what she sees and understand is what we see and understand - thus rendering us incapable to shake off that crawling-under-your-skin feeling as to what's real and what's hallucination. As Laura, Belen is the film's biggest attraction, whose stellar performance puts us on the edge and Princep gives an unnaturally natural performance as Simon, who also happens to be HIV positive.

Both emotionally and psychologically engaging, the film need not rely on shock and gore to relay its message. A scene where a medium tries to make contact with the lost children in the house is enough to give you the most chilling goose bumps you've ever experienced, and the little 'knocking' game Laura plays with the children is a ticking time bomb that's just waiting to explode you out of your seat.

"The Orphanage" isn't a spoon-feeding affair; it is aimed at the more articulate viewer who appreciates ambience and depth of character above petty scares. An observant memory is perhaps required to comprehend the compassionately beautiful and layered ending, which also means it possesses exceptional replay value for viewers to go watch it again. This film is one of this year's 'must watch'.