Abandoned

After a heartless father gains custody of his nine-year-old son Aron (Meszaros Tamas) following a divorce, he later drops the boy off at an orphanage because he doesn't want to bring any baggage into a new marriage. As a kind of indoctrination, Aron is initially beat up by some of his fellow roommates, but after an unsuccessful attempt to escape to his mom's, he eventually finds kinship with his hapless peers, especially since they are all subject to the terrible whims of a harsh headmaster and a bitterly cruel teacher. With only a single instructor showing any compassion towards them, the dispossessed boys endure a brutal existence in an institution fit for the nightmares of Charles Dickens. Bleak but undeniably effective, this is a strong optional purchase. (T. Rich)