Orphan

Orphan, the latest from director László Nemes (Son of Saul, TIFF ’15, which won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film; Sunset, TIFF ’18), takes place amongst the ruins of the violently suppressed Hungarian Revolution of 1956, in which thousands of anguished citizens challenged the USSR-backed dictatorship and were met with Soviet tanks and troops. The resultant violence and high death tolls led to nearly a quarter of a million Hungarians fleeing the country.

Living with his stoic and forbearing mother, Klára (Andrea Waskovics), in Budapest, Andor (12-year-old newcomer Bojtorján Barabas) is desperately searching for his identity. Although 11 years have passed since the liberation of the camps, his father has not returned. The family of two are members of the close-knit Jewish community, which — under the thumb of the Axis-aligned regime that preceded Soviet occupation — languished at the best of times and at the worst times disappeared. Although settled in their historic family home, they are under close observation by the current regime, which suspects their connection to at-large members of what remains of the underground resistance. Meanwhile, the family receives visits from Berend Mihály (Grégory Gadebois), a pompous and brutish man from the nearby countryside, linked to Klára’s mysterious past, who Andor begins to suspect holds the key to the true story of his mother’s survival during World War II.

Written with Clara Royer (who also co-penned Nemes’ Son of Saul and Sunset) and shot on 35mm by Mátyás Erdély (who collaborated with Nemes on his previous two pictures), Orphan is a jarring and tragic yet beautiful portrait of survival, despite all odds.

DOROTA LECH