Orphan An Effective Thriller With Some Flaws

Rating: 7/10 (17 January 2010)

Orphan is an effective thriller with some flaws from director Jaume Collet-Serra whose admirable in making this film about a couple who recently lost their baby adopt Esther an innocent 9 year old girl harboring a dangerous secret. Vera Farminga and Peter Sarsgaard are good as the married couple. Farminga shows all the emotions as Kate Coleman still traumatized over the death of her newborn baby who starts to investigate into Esther's past when strange things start to happen. Sarsgaard is decent as her husband John but I found him to be a bit too gullible when he's falling for Esther's manipulations taking her side over his wife's. Sarsgaard still turns in a good performance though despite not being given much to do. Isabelle Fuhrman is frighteningly effective as Esther the seemingly angelic child who will do anything to get what she wants even manipulate the people around her and murder. Fuhrman keeps you on edge as the villain wondering what she is willing to do next to protect her secret. Well done. The rest of the cast are okay but none of them stand out besides Fuhrman. The film did a nice job of developing most of the characters and the violence committed by Esther was well executed. I thought the pacing was a little slow and there some predictable moments. But other then that Orphan is still a decent thriller which I'm sure will please almost any die hard fan of the genre. The twist near the end I didn't really see coming and it helped to explain why Esther would go to the extremes in order to protect her secret from getting out. Overall this film could've been better but it certainly wasn't the worst I've seen. Orphan has character development, drama, and some suspense which always helps elevate the movie. Plus the exceptional performances by Vera Farminga and especially Isabelle Fuhrman make it worth watching at least once.