Cast: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
To begin with, Orphan did surprise me, I thought of it as another B-Grade thriller with an obvious revelation at the climax, but no, it is really worth your time and money, it is actually one of the good films made in 2009. Yes, it is.
Orphan tells the story of a married couple, who just had a stillborn baby, decides to adopt an intelligent 9 year old Esther to fill that vacant space, the stillborn baby could have filled but Esther is not only a bright child who can paint like a pro, play piano and do everything perfectly, there is something strange about this girl, something really frightening.
Orphan is disturbing and gruesome but still very intelligent. By the time you will figure out that this girl is no ordinary child but is someone who posses demonic spirits, you will be punched in the face with that genius revelation, that brilliant thing, you never thought of.
The couple; Kate and John, already had a son, Daniel and a daughter, Max. Esther bonds quickly with Max by using sign language as Max is deaf. Daniel is not most friendly though with her. But still Esther succeeds to manipulate each one of them but Kate. Kate could feel that Esther is not quite what she seems.
This film has an amazing script which is executed excellently. If you have had enough of bad films, in the name of horror, you should watch orphan. It is a clever film with some great acting performances by most of the cast, but one who stands out is Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther. Isabelle delivers a powerful performance and her work is beyond the question that whether a viewer likes the film or not, because even if someone finds the film a mediocre piece of work, nobody disliked the way she portrayed Esther.
Orphan didn’t win any award and yes it didn’t deserve as well. Horror or Thriller hardly wins Oscar Awards anyway. Nevertheless there were certainly a dozen or two better films made in 2009. As a bottomline, I would say Orphan is certainly one of the most underrated horror films in American Cinema.
Movie Geek’s Rating: ★★★½
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