Orphan Movie Review: There is Something Wrong with Esther

Orphan knows what it wants and what it's doing. It's generally uncomfortable and wrong. The kind of story it presents, that is. It stays faithful to every cliché of the genre. It's reasonably, cheesily suspenseful. The scares are often generic. Yet amidst the excesses and exuberance, the film still has the power to surprise at times. It somehow plays a little beyond its sophisticated audience's expectations.

The movie borrows from just about every other psycho-child thriller flick; but it is good to know that its visceral staples for the suspense-thriller kind is its good source of sheer terror. The film rests on Isabelle Furhman's shoulders as the creepily weird Esther. And she is definitely up to the task.

Orphan occasionally sinks into ludicrousness, but this flick has enough suspense and chills to keep avid horror fans at the edge of their seats. The troubling theme utilized by director Jaume Collet-Serra(House of Wax) takes the movie further. And while it skates over thin ice in its silly but vicious story, it puts a disturbingly fetishistic bent to such an evil child movie. From being grotesque, perverse, and ludicrous, Orphan paints a darkly atmospheric elegance to its violence and mayhem. The dark undercurrents lingering around its breathtaking cynicism heavily relies on jump-scares, familiar chases, lunatic behavior, and jolt-and-shock factor.

There are some booboos in the plotting that are not very much acceptable given how the film is mounted: drinking one glass of wine intoxicates you enough to have double vision and be unable to fight off a fatally crazed little person's weird behavior; you can sneak into a hospital's ICU and suffocate someone without anyone noticing; the cops will show up only after there isn't any kind of danger anymore; among other things. A little more intelligent means to go about these issues could have elevated this movie's stature.

The inclusion of a twist ending generally works (though personally, it has actually dawned me right away even before the actual part came).

The acting is first-rate. And this is the best aspect of the movie. The 12-year old Fuhrman as the oddball Esther is truly ferocious to watch. She blazes her way across the screen in a performance that ranges from sweet to seductive to psychotic.

Vera Farmiga as Kate Coleman is deep and brilliant in her mother and wife character compounded by her history of alcoholism and the present issues of the family. Peter Sarsgaard works as the father and husband John Coleman who gets daunted by his past infidelity and the current family mishaps. From here, the familial tension further takes off as the Colemans' third child turns out to be stillborn at birth while their second child Max played by Aryana Engineer is deaf. And Kate being a passionate piano player adds up to the emotional baggage. The eldest son Daniel played by Jimmy Bennett is in his pre-teen surges and resents the adoption of the weirdo Esther, a 9-year old charming Russian orphan whose artistic flair, articulate demeanor, and matured thinking get the attention of the Coleman parents.

Solid lead performances and a moderately engaging premise is what makes the dark Orphan a decent bad-seed-horror flick.