Orphan (Subtitled) (15)

(Subtitled)

Language: Hungarian

Hungarian director László Nemes returns with a heavy dose of sepia-tinted childhood torment.

After the spiritual ordeal of his Holocaust movie Son of Saul, Nemes brings us another sombre story from 20th-century central Europe, executed with impressive technical control.

Set in the aftermath of Hungary’s failed uprising against its Soviet masters, it is a story about sons rebelling against fathers. Andor (Bojtorján Barábas) is an angry, lonely teenage boy who idolises the memory of his father, who went missing during the second world war. Andor’s life is turned upside down by the appearance of a brutal, boorish butcher (Grégory Gadebois) who seems to be claiming some sort of right over Andor’s mother.

We piece together the truth a little faster than Andor; once he’s caught up, his only recourse is hostile, stubborn denial. Orphan is vivid and battering in its depiction of the city as a veritable assault course of everyday horrors, from street fighting children to violently authoritarian police to so many varieties of abusive civilian men. It’s a story of vast,  echoing sadness, apparently rooted in the director’s own family history. Unmissable viewing!