Release Date – 7/24/09
Esther is a very different child. She’s from Russia with an unknown background but is very articulate and mature for her age. She even dresses very old fashioned which alienates her from other children her age. She is adopted by Kate and John Coleman to be their third child when they have complications having another one of their own. Esther grows attached to her new father. However she never has a strong bond with her new mother. Eventually incidents start occurring around Esther that lead Kate into thinking her new adopted child might have some problems. This drives the family apart and leads Kate into further investigation on the background of Esther. Although filled with some horror movie clichés, the twist worked for me which leads me toward a more positive review. I thought I could guess the ending but was dead wrong…. which I like.
Peter Sarsgaard is John and Vera Farmiga is Kate. They have an odd relationship throughout the film. They’re very sexual and in love at times, yet sometimes it seems like they hate each other. I guess it’s a normal marriage that is going through ups and downs. Kate is a recovering alcoholic whose drunkenness caused her young daughter to become partially deaf in an accident. John never seemed to let that go which drove Kate into therapy. They have two children, the aforementioned young deaf daughter Max (Aryana Engineer), and a son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) who is a little older. Esther grows attached to the hearing impaired little girl while Daniel just thinks Esther is a weirdo and wants her out of the house. Everyone did a fine job acting-wise. I was really impressed with Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther. She is only 12 years old which helps her play a mature 9 year old pretty well. She had the part down to a science and was pretty creepy sometimes. This wasn’t some kind of The Ring or The Grudge type overdone spooky ghost kid. This is something that could actually happen in real life. It’s a new age version of The Omen if you need a better comparison, yet Orphan has a more realistic ending than the kid being the son of Satan.
It’s hard to review a movie that relies on a twist ending because I just want to give it away in the review. I could see how some would think its absurd but I felt like it was based in reality enough and not easily guessed by the audience. I read a lot of reviews that leaned one way in hating the movie, and definitely a bunch that leaned the other way really getting a kick out of it. I guess I lean more towards the enjoyment group. Sure, the movie has the horror clichés of “jump” moments that you can see coming a mile away, a ridiculous opening dream sequence, and some cheesy one liners but it kept my interest throughout. I might have to claim my spot as the biggest horror fan of the Wiseguys so I might be biased here. But this horror thriller had me waiting on the edge of my seat to see what the hell they were going to throw at me next, especially for the twist which was the make or break moment. Its brutal at times, creepy at times, and even a little cringeworthy towards the end. I compare it to The Skeleton Key which I thought was an underrated movie that surprised me with the twist ending… Orphan is a little more believable though.
IMDB – 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 46%
Movie Wiseguys – 7/10