FRIGHT FEST: SMALLS ADOPTS ESTHER WITH ORPHAN

In Orphan, Kate Coleman (Vera Farmiga) and her family; husband John (Peter Sarsgaard), deaf daughter Max (Aryana Engineer), and son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) are all recovering from a recent miscarriage Kate had. In an effort to heal, Kate and John decide to give the love they had prepared for their stillborn child to an orphan (a truly kind and altruistic gesture)...unfortunately, they adopt the child from Hell. Her name is Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), and while things at first seem normal it doesn't take too long before she is doing everything she can to destroy her adoptive family. It's all in service of one disturbing goal.

Orphan takes its time. slowly ratcheting up the tension until it's almost too much to bear. You better believe I was screaming at the screen a good deal of the time (in a good way). Jimmy Bennett and Aryana Engineer mostly do what is required of them, with Jimmy being the clear stand-out between the two (Aryana mostly just looks vaguely worried or concerned, and concerned and cries a lot. Jimmy plays a little jerk well, and manages to make his character likable as the film progresses and he learns more). Both aren't given much to do. They figure out fairly quickly that Esther is a little psychopath, but are threatened with grievous bodily harm by Esther if they try to blow the whistle on her. It's not until the end that they wise up and decide they need to sound the alarm, but they are still no match for Esther and her wiles.

Peter Sarsgaard is fine as the dumb-ass dad who is blissfully ignorant to the immediate danger Esther poses to him and his family, continually ignoring every warning sign and "accident". He is aided in his denial by a disgrace of a psychologist played by Margo Martindale, who is easily duped by Esther. The little girl tells you everything you want to hear, and even sows seeds that will later work to further tear the family apart and none of your suspicions are even slightly raised. Where the hell did you get your degree from?! You should be barred from practice! A terrible psychologist indeed. There's also the case of Rosemary Dunsmore as Kate's mother who serves absolutely no purpose at all, appearing in around three scenes (serving as exposition in one). Makes me wonder, why even include her at all?

The stand-outs in the film are Vera Farmiga as the constantly gaslit Kate. She is still not in the healthiest mental state as she has a history of alcoholism and is still struggling to overcome the trauma that came with her miscarriage. Easy pickings for Esther to manipulate and toy with, luckily Kate is much tougher than she appears as when it becomes clear her family is in danger she immediately takes action as any mama bear worth her salt would do. Farmiga sells all of her scenes, though her best acting comes during the third act where she is required to display a good variety of emotions (rage, fear, grief, hysteria).  As for Esther, Isabelle Fuhrman turns her character into a horror movie icon (Seriously, why didn't she go on to bigger and better things. Orphan shows she definitely has the chops.). One that is equal parts disturbing, unhinged, and memorable. She speaks with an accent (In real life she has an American accent) that is distracting for a good while until you become accustomed to it. She's supposed to be Russian, but the accent sounds more vaguely Swedish than Russian. Fuhrman is absolutely magnetic. It's impossible to tear your eyes away from her whenever she's on screen (Her freak-out scenes are the best). It's genuinely disturbing to watch Esther slowly ratchet up her mind games and sick, twisted torture/kills. By the end, you will be rooting for that little (excuse my language) cunt to die a horrible, slow, painful death. Esther also has a dark little secret that elevates the film and material a good deal. Make no mistake, this film belongs to Fuhrman and Esther.

Orphan is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Just how great this film is is likely a fluke judging by his career (The guy has directed mostly middling to bad films like House of Wax, Unknown, Run All Night, The Commuter, The Shallows, and Non-Stop). That said, he does a well-enough job despite some annoying creeping camera shots that mostly serve as fake-outs. David Leslie Johnson penns the script, and it's fairly good stuff (his credits include Wrath of The Titans, The Conjuring 2, and Aquaman). Jeff Cutter is in charge of cinematography, and it's not all that special. The film is constantly, grey, drab, and gloomy. It fits for the genre the film is working in (the horror genre), but none of the shots are memorable or pretty (I will say I do like the blacklight scene in Esther's room near the end....not sure I would give him credit for that though).

I'm just going to come out and say it: Orphan is likely the best "evil kid" film I've seen. The acting from our two main leads is stellar, the film moves at a pretty good clip (It runs at a little over two hours, but didn't feel that long) and continually ratchets up the tension and depravity as it progresses onwards to its final showdown, it's easy to care about the family,  not to mention Esther's shocking secret  will definitely stick with you long after the credits roll  and easily elevates what could have been just another typical "evil kid" film(and no, I'm not going to spoil it. I don't care if it has been a good ten years since the film was released) . While it would definitely be a horrifically terrible choice to adopt Esther in real life, the decision to adopt Orphan into your horror blu-ray collection would be a decidedly smart one.

4.5 Stars