FILM REVIEW

Film review: Orphan (Child horror)

Orphan is a 2009 American physiological  horror thriller film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. The film is about a couple who, after the death of their unborn child, adopt a mysterious nine-year-old girl Russian girl called Esther played by Isabelle Furhman who  is from a local orphanage  who turns out to be like not the usual and ordinary child. A young orphan with nothing more than chaos and murder on her mind couldn't pick a better family to adopt her than the Colemans.  Vera Faminga as Kate (wife) and Peter Sarsgaard as John(Husband) have two kids a death-mute daughter (Max) and their son (Daniel). Max builds a good sisterly bond and relationship with each other; however Daniel is less welcoming of Esther. As soon as Esther begins to act strange Kate suspects that there might be problems in Esther's background- the strange ribbons, the mysterious Russian background, and the especial fondness for daddy, should have been a clue. The film uses good conventions of horror such as the film being set in the winter time when its cold and gloomy and low key lighting of the atmosphere in winter time reflects the scary mood. The film uses mise en scene of how Esther is dressed traditionally and old fashioned to portray her weirdness and unusual character reflecting how she indicates shes evil and cunning up to something. The way Esther dresses as sweet and innocent goes against her hidden devlish character that she plays in the film as shes plotting murder. This is a good convention of horror as it shows how the evil characters true identity is hidden in the start but will slowly be revealed. 

Her suspicions of something not normal of Esther deepen when the Esther seriously injures another girl who had bullied her and ends up killing and using violent towards many other characters during the movie such as hammering a woman to death and putting Daniels tree house on fire and he ends up in hospital. Kate identifies that that something is very wrong with Esther, but John does not believe her. Attempting to find out more about Esther, Kate finds the girl's hidden Bible and discovers that it came from the Saarne Institute in Estonia, which she eventually learns is a mental hospital and her aim is to get with men she desires, but if the men reject her, the only way to escape her pain is by killing them.

 Certain shots and sequences in Orphan have higher production value and cinematography than are regularly found in horror films. Two examples stand out: One is the Coleman’s home at night as lighting flashes and the other is during the finally confrontation at a frozen lake at night. Great camera placement and set up both times, especially during the latter.The director makes use of the material by filling scenes with abrupt noises, visual shocks and sharp music cues even before Esther arrives. Moreover, the production has enough of a professional sheen—the film uses the frigid cold of its Eastern Canadian locations to good advantage, this holds audience attention until the bloody de rigueur showdown between Esther and the overwhelmed family. If you are looking into fostering this may not be the film for you but an interesting, exciting and cracking for everyone else!