Orphan
Review - Angela Dildine for The Mungles on Movies
There is something very wrong with Esther... very, very wrong
- so wrong in fact that no one is safe.. not even the children... not the
fowl in the air nor beast in the field can escape her twisted rage in
this well crafted little thriller from Jaume Collet-Serra.
To make matters even worse, this naughty spawn has been unleashed upon
a family so broken by tragedy and guilt that the idea of dealing with
this evil incarnate seems brutal and harsh. This small exercise in
terror, Esther, can be so loving, and so gifted as she drags her
paintbrush across the canvas describing her longing for a family to
belong to. She stuns her new adopted mother by playing a piano
concerto by Tchaikovsky flawlessly, and this just adds to the cruelty
this child unleashes on her new family.
Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard)
Coleman are a successful couple who have struggled with issues of
alcoholism and fidelity while struggling to hold the pieces together as
they raise their son and deaf daughter. Adding to their struggles, they
have just recently lost an unborn child and the sadness weighs their
house down. So what could fix things more than adopting the extremely
talented and homicidal girl named Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman)? A
Russian orphan so well composed, so mature and gifted that John and
Kate can hardly believe their fortune, and their youngest daughter Max
(Ariana Engineer) immediately takes to her new big sister.
She follows her everywhere she goes and unwittingly becomes her
unwilling accomplice while their son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett)
is angry and cruel to his new extended family. This is just the
beginning of the breakdown since Esther's arrival. As Esther's true
nature comes out to play, she reveals the ugly hidden truths lying
beneath the sadness of the Colemans and some as shocking as Esther
herself, culminating into a grade A smack down with a killer twist that
left the audience I saw it with cheering.
The Orphan's concept is typical B movie shock value. Whenever
you need cheap thrills, throw in some helpless little kids who could
die in horrible ways. Oh yeah, and add to the mix an adorable
malevolent kid who will kill you if threatened at all and you have got
what typically equates to some serious late night horror delight. Will
they kill a kid? Will they not? What takes this film out of the
discount bin at the video store is the performances of the entire cast
with standout turns by the two leads Vera and Isabelle. Vera's "Kate"
is a broken woman who is desperate to repair the damage she has done to
her family. She is a woman so lost in her desperate need to mother
- to mother a child who she has not hurt by her behavior - to have a
new start as a parent. In turn, Isabelle's "Esther" is so obliqly warm
and obliging but transparent, everyone else can see there is something
amiss but the emotionally stunted Colemans. Esther's behavior is
so disconcerting at times, it's hard to decide whether to laugh (you
know, that uncomfortable laugh) or gasp in shock. Personally, I flip
flopped between the two. The looks she gives can stop you in your
tracks and make you wish you were somewhere else.
Overall, the movie is incredibly entertaining and has moments that are reminiscent of others in its genre like "The Omen" or "Hand That Rocks the Cradle".
The performances are outstanding, and you will never be bored while
watching this movie. Yes, there are a few cheap scares, but hey, when
the real ones come, they're worth the wait. I found a chilling sadness
in some of the performances, and the final scene left me feeling
triumphant and satisfied. If you're looking for an entertaining
suspense movie with a good mindblow at the end, this is a movie to
see. I give it 3 and a half ribbons out of 5.
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