Orphan

Yet another gem of 2009, Orphan seemed to be firing on all cylinders with the excellent visual effects, acting, score and most of all direction. Not once could I peel my eyes from the screen after the first half of introductory setup had been established. Isabelle Fuhrman is absolutely frightening as the mysterious Esther and Aryana Engieer gets the “cutest kid of the year award” for her portrayal of Max Coleman. It is a testament to a good movie when you can center a story around three locations (house, school and hospital) and one family and have it stay relevant and interesting throughout a 2 hour span.

Plot (Skip this paragraph to avoid spoilers): Orphan is a story about a couple John (Peter Sarsgaard) and Kate Coleman (Vera Farmiga), who have two beautiful children in Daniel(Jimmy Bennet) and Max. The family is a happy one but the parents are desperately wanting a third. At first it isn’t clear as to why a third child is so important to them until you find out that Kate, at one point had lost her baby. With another child Kate believes the love she had reserved for her late baby Jessica could be used on him/her. So the Coleman’s visit anadoption agency and fall instantly in love with a little Russian girl named Esther. She is a brilliant artist who appears intelligent, loving and extremely eccentric, from her dress to her manners. Esther appears unapologetically different from all the other kids and though they pick on her at school, she seems quite content with being unique. Daniel dislikes his new sister and Kate grows suspicious of her while little Max and John seem to grow closer and closer to her. Before long accidents begin to happen and the family members automatically take sides. Their once happy home starts to break down and old demons are brought back through arguments and disagreements. The strangest part in all of this is the cute little girl named Esther, with her sinister smile.

The end of it all left my mouth wide open, I expected a twist but the thing that manifests itself out of Esther’s story was not what I expected. This escalated my liking of Orphan even more because while it offers nothing new to the thriller genre, it sets it’s own bar and forces you to respect it. Although it may look familiar to many other “bad child” movies like The Omen, or The Good Son, it is more akin to a mystery being that you will be wondering “what’s up with Esther?” the entire time. Director Juame Collet-Serra‘s dark style really keeps you on edge and it is complemented beautifully by the music of John Ottman. I was pleased at the lack of cheesy “jump moments” and the reliance on story to scare the audience rather than random loud noises or jerky camera flashes.

If there was a gripe for me it was with the presentation of the mom. There are times when we are made to be really sympathetic of this woman’s plight but with only a hint at her history, I was left feeling very aloof. So when things got crazy, I really was not caring for her as much as I should have been. Her daughter Max on the other hand, made me cringe whenever she was about to get into trouble. My other beef lies with the ending “stalk” scene, I have seen it way too much in this genre of film. I was hoping that with the twisted (no pun intended) way that things turned out, they would end things with a bit of unique flavor but no.

If you are on the fence about Orphan, trust me it is a thrill ride worth taking. You don’t have to “turn your brain off” for this one, just kick back, relax and keep your eye on Esther.

Written by Greg Dragon – who has written 364 reviews on Spicy Movie Dogs.

Cinephile and opinion writer, Greg Dragon has been a fan of movies since the 80's when Kung Fu theater was all the rage and Roger Moore was James Bond. As an opinion writer that has reviewed Box Office releases on a number of prominent websites, Greg is the founder and lead critic of Spicy Movie Dogs.