Milwood (2013) Online

This movie is so bad. They changed the name to the orphanage and it's just horrible. I felt like I was watching a junior college project filmed in a dorm. Nothing good about this movie at all. I feel like the name was changed so that people might accidentally rent it thinking it's the horror classic of the same name. I wish I could have that 97 minutes of my life back. The camera work was weird, The acting was weird, The dialogue was weird. This review might be weird but the movie was such a train wreck it made me feel weird. What were the film makers thinking? Were they high or are they retarded? I fee that they might be all three. I feel bad for the kid who starred in this rubbish.

The eleven year-old boy Nathan Perry (Christian Goodwin) is beloved by his parents that are going to give a dog for him. However his family is destroyed in a car accident when his parents die and the boy is sent to the custody of Milwood, an orphanage managed by Mr. Clemens (Jimmy Scanlon). The boy is treated with love by the social assistant Judy (Michelle Romano), but abused by Mr. Clemens. When Nathan is bullied by other boys, Mr. Clemens sends him to the feared Ward B and the mean Katherine Rizzo (Tiffany Shepis) becomes his tutor and he has medical assistance from the weird Doctor Charles (Don Tempesta). While snooping around the Ward B, Nathan discloses a dreadful secret. What have him discovered?

"Milwood" is an amateurish, brutal and pointless drama. The plot is confused and it is never clear the motives of Mr. Clemens and Doctor Charles: are they simply deranged sadists with their experiments or do they sell organs? The cinematography, lighting and edition are awful. The histrionic Jimmy Scanlon has a ham performance and only Christian Goodwin has an excellent performance. Michelle Romano has a nice character and also a good performance. The government sends the boys to the custody of Milwood, but there is no audits, in a very strange behavior. The marketing of this drama is completely wrong and viewers believe it is a horror film. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "Orfanato" ("Orphanage")

First, this is also released as 'The Institute' and the description refers to a building 'said to be haunted' and the 'evil spirits live in the walls'. Unless this is referring to the staff there (with the exception of one), then that is one hundred percent false advertising. There is *nothing* supernatural about this *whatsoever*.

Second, this is downright depressing. It is the story of a child admitted to an orphanage after his parents are killed, then is mistreated in said orphanage. Lovely.

Don't bother watching this, whatsoever. Find a good horror movie. There's plenty out there.

First of all, let me say that this movie is terrible. Really REALLY bad. The camera work is pedestrian, the acting is scraping the bottom of the barrel. The kid was the only decent actor in the movie. The dialog is truly ridiculous at points, and the details propelling the plot forward don't make any sense. This is further confounded by the way the time line jumps around, making for a movie that lurches along like a wounded animal. The story, at its core, is good, and the movie could have been truly great had it been made by entirely different people. Using haunting as a metaphor for the true horrors that are frequently faced by orphaned children, and ward B as a symbol of the powerlessness of children who are designated wards of the state, could have been crafted into a truly poignant, moving, and ultimately unforgettable work of cinematography, but, unfortunately, this clumsy attempt at that, fails in every way. If Scorsese had made this film, it would have been a masterpiece.

Flat story, acting, everything! Steer clear of this monstrosity.

"The Orphanage" and "The Institute" are the same film. It is titled "Milwood" (sic) failed to improve it for some reason, but did increase sales and rentals.

Nathan (Christian Goodwin) arrives at the Milwood Institute after his parents die and he didn't get his puppy. He is cared for by child counselor Judy (Michelle Romano) the closets thing to eye-candy and the not so caring dean (Jimmy Scanlon). He is bullied by Tommy (Adam J. Freeman) until they both wind up in the bad boy ward, rumored to be haunted.

Nothing to see here, mini plot spoiler, it is not haunted. In fact this should not be sold as a horror film, but is more akin to a "Lifetime" drama (which I find to be a horror for a different reason).

Guide: 1 F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

Where do I begin? So bad...let me count the ways...

I wasted an hour and a half on this horrible movie. No one can act, nothing makes sense, you don't know what the point is, none of it is realistic.

Oy vey! Run away!

This film was difficult to watch. Although it isn't the greatest film technically, its message is very powerful. It portrays the complete dominance, that adults have over children. As it has been aptly put, absolute power often results in absolute corruption. This story had a happy ending, but unfortunately, that's not how it often ends in real life. It reminds me of the residential schools, to which native children were sent, after being torn away from their families, so they could be indoctrinated, into the European conquerers' religion. These children were at the complete mercy of adult clergy, who were often corrupt and sadistic or sexually perverse. The children often were often the victims of unthinkable abuse at the hands of these adults. I guess, the only reason to watch this film is to remind oneself of the vulnerability of children and our job, as responsible adults to be vigilant with ourselves and others, to make sure, that we are advocates for their protection.