Tags:
Film: Orphan
Year: 2009
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer: David Johnson
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard and Isabelle Fuhrman
Review:
For this film, I actually saw it back when it was in theaters and then rewatched it when it came to DVD. The official synopsis is a husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9 year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be.
This film begins with a married couple, the wife being is Kate (Vera Farmiga) and the husband is John (Peter Sarsgaard). We get a surreal feeling as Kate is pregnant and about to have her third child. She gets into a wheelchair and then notices she is bleeding, followed by a really bad pain. We get a disturbing image that she had a stillborn and the baby is covered in blood, screaming. She then wakes from her dream.
They decide to adopt as they already have two other children. What I found interesting here is that Max (Aryana Engineer) is deaf, one of their other children. They end up going to an orphanage where they meet Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman). She seems like the perfect child, but when they bring her home, things take quite the turn.
This film is really good. This one is one of those that when you first see it, the twist will probably catch you off guard, which I really like. This film can be watched again though and then you try to notice things that you didn’t before as you now know the truth from the beginning. The film does well in building this tension through the editing and the reveal was fun. I also thought the investigation into the truth was well done and doesn’t bog the film down.
The acting is good from Farmiga, Sarsgaard and Fuhrman. You especially feel bad for Farmiga who everyone seems to be against and it can be frustrating. Fuhrman does an excellent job for how complex her character is as well. Another bright spot is the little girl, who is really deaf; she is one of the cutest kids I have ever seen. I thought the acting from the children which was good, which is not always the case.
The effects for the film were also good. They did all seem to be practical, which I’m a big fan of. There were some of the parts that definitely made me cringe at. The film also does some interesting things with glow-in-the-dark ink.
Now with that said, I think this is a good movie. It has a solid story with a really good twist at the end. To couple with this, the editing and the acting are good. I was really impressed by the children in this film as this is something we don’t always get. The effects were also well done and all looked to be practical. The film builds tension and exposition well. I would definitely recommend giving this film a viewing and it also has rewatchability as well.
My Rating: 8 out of 10