Orphan is a 2025 Hungarian historical drama, directed by László Nemes and co-written by Nemes and Clara Royer, who also co-wrote Nemes’s Oscar-winning Son of Saul. It had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival last August and was released in the UK on 15 May.

In 1949, Andor Hirsch (Bojtorján Barabas) is reunited with Klára (Andrea Waskovics), the mother he never knew: towards the end of the Second World War, as a babe-in-arms, he had been sent to an orphanage while she had gone into hiding in the countryside. Eight years’ later, they are living in Budapest, a city still reeling from the failed 1956 uprising. Whilst Klára struggles to get by working in a shop, twelve-year-old Andor still waits impatiently for the return of his father from the war.

As he desperately seeks news of his father from those that knew him, along comes another man from his mother’s past: Mihály Berend (Grégory Gadebois). Berend is a butcher from a small town outside of Budapest and it becomes apparent that, during the war, Berend had in some way assisted Klára to hide from the Nazis, although the manner of this assistance is uncertain and rather suspicious.

The film follows the inter-relations between these three characters as they each try to find a way forward in the difficult times in which they live. It is a film full of anger, primarily the anger of Andor who simply cannot understand why his father has not yet returned from the war.

As one expects with Nemes, Orphan is a bleak film. It is shot in black and white on 35mm stock and is screened with an almost-square aspect ratio, all of which adds to its bleakness. Consequently, it is not a comfortable watch however, as with Son of Saul, it is well worth the effort.