Rating of
3/4
Orphan film
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 09/18/12
A rare horror with elements of mystery and drama. This movie reminded me of The Usual Suspects, Psycho and The Sixth Sense, in a more gruesome and dark comedy way. Twist was unexpected though somewhat a bit late in the story. Kate Coleman (Vera Farmiga) and her husband John (Peter Sarsgaard) still have effects of their third child who was stillborn. They both bring in a new member to the family consisting of deaf daughter Max (Aryana Engineer) and son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett). The 9-year-old Russian girl named Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) is clearly different from the rest of the girls. Score was apt and performances were key to make it work. This psycho-child thriller is a horrific ride despite its slow start. Vera Farmiga was amazing and you can really feel the emotion. (Isabelle Fuhrman was ver notorious and convincing at best. There were parts however that were a bit Hollywoodish such as the conclusion, how the antagonist manages to stay alive after the grueling encounter with Kate. Screenplay was good but not majestic in certain aspects. Best line: "But mommy, you said it was okay to be different" from Esther. Orphan scares and shows how one kid has an immense effect on people, just because of being different.
