A disturbing and all-around well made psychological thriller/horror flick

Rating: 7/10 (21 March 2020)

Orphan (2009) is by all accounts somewhat of a sleeper hit. I only watched the film in its entirety more than 10 after it was released, but being a big fan of the "evil child" horror subgenre with one of my all time favorites being the likes of "The Omen" (1976) - I rarely found a good contender which had the quality of startling me and leaving a strong impression on me upon first viewing.
Orphan is that kind of movie, where the antagonist, meticulously and disturbingly well-played by then only 10-year old Isabelle Fuhrman elevates the entire premise and suspense of the film by a country mile. Consider the creepy and well played antichrist by Harvey Spencer Stephens in the original Omen and apply that same level of craftmanship and turn it up a notch and you get Fuhrman's level of intimidating and manipulative presence on screen.
The premise of the story is very simple, as the Coleman family who still is marked by their loss of a stillborn daughter try to move on with their lives by adopting an orphan - thus channeling the love they reserved for their own unborn child to another that deserves it as equally. They get invested in a 9-year old girl with an eastern accent who talks beautifully and complex (way above of what is expected of her age), and adopt her.
The movie has strong characterizations by the protagonist mother played solidly by Vera Farmiga who senses that there is something wrong with their newly adopted daughter Esther.
Sadly the movie keeps falling back on classic horror clichés of having extremely violent and suspicious events happen to or near the family, conveniently after Esther enters their lives, where seemingly ignorant characters are unwilling to see the clear signs. The situation is of course not helped by the frivolous and flawed husband, competently played by Peter Sarsgaard, who seems somehow bewitched by Esther's very mature way of thinking and conducting herself when she is around him. She is able to charm him into believing her every word and by giving him a new level of interactivity which he seemingly cannot get from his real daughter, Max, who is deaf and is very well-played by Aryana Engineer. The Coleman's son, Daniel, solidly played by Jimmy Bennet isn't exactly "wonderchild" material and feels that something is off with Esther. He too now has to take a backseat to his dad's seemingly new favourite little girl in the household.
The absurdity of this plot is somewhat mitigated by convenient prior events which invoke instability in the family with the mother having lost her credibility due to her neglect in an accident which could have gone very wrong, prompting her husband and the people around her to question her sanity, and the rift between the couple is widened due to subsequent reveals of betrayal by the husband.
All of this contributes to an extremely vulnerable family dynamic and it becomes the perfect playground for Esther who through masterful manipulation begins to tear the family apart to fuel her own disturbing ulterior motives.
As the poster says: "There is something wrong with Esther", the big reveal and some very morally questionable scenes leading up to it will most likely leave you speechless.
Director Jaume Collet-Serra does a great job at presenting this almost surreal story to us with great angles and overall pacing. Due to the solid performances the films 2+ hour running time flies by fast!
Fuhrman however, completely steals the show here, as she establishes a new standard for child performances in horror movies. Her portrayal of the character is deep, manipulating, charming, dark and most of all disturbing - to think that she was just 10 years old during the production is mind-blowing, but was just what the movie needed to pull off some of its more unbelievable and perfunctory parts.
If you can stomach it, then Orphan (2009) comes highly recommended!