In the "Wicked" Tradition

Rating: 8/10 (12 August 2010)

If nothing else the disparate viewer reactions to "The Orphan" make for interesting reading on these comment pages. My advice for potential viewers is to disregard the most extreme love-hate stuff; the film is neither as good nor as bad as a lot of people are saying.
It is basically a slightly more bent and graphic version of Julia Stiles' 1998 film "Wicked". Both films revolve around ruthless jockeying for household supremacy; both have an erotic subtext that people seem to be afraid to discuss, and both push the envelope of the "Bad Seed" (1956) genre-reflecting the more extreme attitudes of current fans of the psychological horror genre.
"Orphan" has a much bigger budget than the earlier films which is quite skillfully utilized in useful areas like production design and cinematography. It is very creative in these areas and Esther (the latest "demon seed" nicely overplayed by Isabelle Fuhrman) gets a nice dimensionality from the regular showcasing of her art. The painting of the burning orphanage is especially well done and extremely effective; being as creepy as any visual image I have ever seen.
I would certainly recommend the film to fans of "Wicked" (and vice versa) and to even causal fans of the horror genre. I think it is too extreme for crossover fans, who would be wise to avoid the film or at least to be prepared to bail at some point because it gets increasingly twisted as it progresses. Unless you are willing to suspend disbelief during a number of plot developments you won't enjoy the viewing. It is a bit like "May" (2002) in this regard, where a lot of viewers enjoy the premise and the set-up but lose interest when the characters get too extreme or too stupid for audience identification.
It is a long film (slightly over two hours), which would not be a problem if they had focused more on solving the mystery of Esther's background. Because the film offers viewers minimal cerebral exercises like this, their attention wonders to plot holes and the film begins to get a bit tedious.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child. Comment