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 Orphan
(Theatrical - 2009)
Warner Bros. Pictures / 2009
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Written by David Johnson
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH
Pounder, Jimmy Bennett
Review by Jude Felton
The tagline on the poster for Orphan is "There's something
wrong with Esther", and believe me they are not kidding and
they don't mean that she has a sore throat. Esther, being
the orphan of the movie's title, is adopted by a young
couple, played by Farmiga and Sarsgaard, who have recently
lost their baby daughter in a tragic accident.
Esther is a little odd straight off the bat, she doesn't
quite fit in...anywhere. Her parents go out of their way to
make her feel a part of the family, which also consists of
another brother and sister, although the brother is a bit of
a brat that doesn't want anything to do with her.
On the surface though everything is just wonderful with
Esther playing the role of the perfect daughter; she's
polite, well mannered and a talented artist. Of course we,
as the viewer, know that this new family isn't all going to
be plain sailing.
Orphan is the third movie from director Collet-Serra, whose
debut was the thoroughly uninspiring House of Wax remake,
and shows that he has moved on in leaps and bounds. This is
a far more measured movie, one that doesn't thunder along
without rhyme or reason. Instead it builds gradually, giving
time to develop the characters and the family dynamics. The
setting is beautiful and the proceedings are accompanied by
a terrific score. We do get some scenes of quite brutal
violence but it is the atmosphere and build up that are the
movies main strengths.
There are however more than its fair share of weaknesses
contained within. Some of the decisions made by characters
are less than clever and there are a few dodgy elements to
the plotting, which I won't go into despite to say that they
are there.
The acting was pretty darned good throughout too, in
particular Fuhrman as Esther who shone in this role. Angelic
to demonic in the blink of an eye, this is how the "bad kid"
should be played. For this reason alone I accepted the flaws
to the movie, as she really did nail the performance.
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