We have our first look at “Orphan,” the third film from Hungarian filmmaker László Nemes (“Son of Saul”). The Hungary, France, Germany and UK co-production has sold to multiple territories, but still nothing in terms of U.S. distribution. “Orphan” will no doubt be submitted to Cannes.
This will be another historical film for Nemes. Set in 1957 Budapest, and after the uprising against the Communist regime, “Orphan” tackles a young boy’s journey when a man appears from his mother’s past and he discovers the true story of her survival during World War II.
It’s been six years since Nemes’ last film, “Sunset,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, but was seen as a disappointing follow-up to his landmark 2015 film “Son of Saul,” which won the Grand Prix at Cannes and the Best International film Oscar.
“Sunset” was inevitably going to be a letdown, even though, I found, it was actually a somewhat accomplished film. Expectations were too high for it — there was no way it could match Son of Saul’s success which, in my books, still stands as one of the great directorial debuts of the last 30 years.
