MovieChat Forums > El orfanato (2008) Discussion > Overall quality vs. ending

Overall quality vs. ending

posted 13 years ago by random_guy2
6 replies | jump to latest

I was mainly curious to see if anyone else had the same reaction to this film that I did. I thought the film had one of the most perfect endings I had ever seen, surprising yet fitting, unexpected yet completely sensical, and of course overpoweringly moving and emotional.

That said, I don't think I could say that I liked the film as a whole. The dialog and pacing in particular I felt were rather weak. The more I think about it, the more I feel like this is a perfect candidate for a remake -- a film that doesn't really succeed, yet has elements that very much could in the right hands.

[–] Amazon_Bass 13 years ago

Shouldn't that be because you're used to nowadays hollywood-insanely-paced movies?

[–] gmoxie 9 years ago

I especially liked the pace of the movie and how it unfolded as an intelligent mystery. I also liked that it didn't rely on fancy special effects and disgusting gore to shock the audience. Much was left to the imagination and not everything was explained.

[–] SpideyFan914 9 years ago

Exact opposite reaction. I thought the ending was predictable and cliched. Movie as a whole was well-paced, mysterious, and intriguing, with a powerful central performance. Chalk it up to taste I suppose.

[–] slimjimpui 9 years ago

I can understand how one might view the ending as "clichéd", but one has to bear in mind that Laura was superimposing her own ending over the horrific events that conspire throughout the film(like how one might wake up from a bad dream wherein everything was going wrong and think up a way of how the dreamt scenario might resolve itself for the better). The audience gets to see Laura's happy ending because we see the world entirely from her perspective throughout the film.

[–] tremblaylm 9 years ago

I agree with the OP: great ending, very average film overall. I couldn't stand the main actress, she was so annoying to me (the acting was fine though).

[–] thechristophershow 9 years ago

Yeah, I thought the movie was horrible. Not a cliche ending, but cliches throughout. The movie was crazy with cliches.