It'll be tough to find room in your life for this particular Orphan.

Rating: 5/10 (3 April 2013)

Orphan plays out like a sort of sub-The Omen, sub-Domestic Disturbance (although with a nine year old girl fulfilling the Vince Vaughn role); generic thriller that has its jumps and its fun but isn't really up to much save for the advertising of the cinematographer's abilities and proof its director, Spaniard Jaume Collet-Serra, can string together a decent number of scares and set pieces. The film is, in fact, so ordinary that it requires a man to enter proceedings nearer the end dressed in a white lab coat so as to formally explain to us just what on Earth is going on - this is all just before the daft climax, wherein the adult leads fumble around in the pitch black as our villain of the hour negates precisely the same surroundings with consummate ease. At least Buffalo Bill had a set of night vision goggles.
Orphan begins with a middle aged couple whose latest of three children doesn't make it beyond the birth stage. Shattered, with regular trips to therapy and a constant fight required to stave off the temptation to turn to drink, it has hit wife and existing mother Kate Coleman (Farmiga) hard. With her husband, Peter Sarsgaard's John, they hit upon adding to their double act of pre-existing infants through means of adoption so as to bury the misfortune. This means a trip to an orphanage and the picking out of a child who's already got some years on them; something that could bring with it some bother for this family of Lexus driving; piano playing; detached house owning unit in that with adoption, introducing an already abandoned, most likely troubled, child into the mix will bring with it its own set of challenges.
Hark, for amidst the other kids who wallow in their charging around and shouting and such lies Esther (Fuhrman), the titular orphan and young girl who's able to meet the Coleman's status in that she philosophises and is greatly skilled in painting. She's calmer than the rest of the orphans; her elevated position in occupying the first floor of the orphanage suggests hierarchy above them and is generally perceived as the perfect selection. Alas, Esther brings with her back to the Coleman's house a terrifying secret; something that would be cruel to reveal given it's the one bright point of the film's runtime, a moment wherein the mind frantically peddles backwards so as to work out if all of the behaviour and such syncs up with where now find ourselves.
In the meantime, she's free to frolic with the existing Coleman kids; two children in Dan (Bennett) and Max (Engineer), the latter of whom at this early stage of their life suffers with something that's perfect in how it is Esther will come to get her own way and, wouldn't you just know it, allows indelibly for the screenwriter to exploit the means by which Esther will come to royally screw with this family unit. Dan, the elder of the two existing siblings, is becoming aware of his own bourgeoning sexuality and has for himself a neat tree house 'perched' on a rickety tree beam. Sister Max, however, is deaf thus the sensory deprivation in both speech and sound will often make it tough for her to communicate to her parents when communication to her parents is exactly what's needed.
The film comes to unfold in a sad world, a world wherein if you happen to know where Transylvania is, you're labelled a "retard". The look of the world is adeptly gloomy, the greys of winter in this leafy U.S. state syncing up nicely with how this family have befallen this tragedy, but the tone is too frivolous and mainstream for it to be an effective enough horror. The usual traits that often stand up to represent the bane of most modern horror are all here: the recklessness of the parents to share their love with one another in the most accessible of places: the kitchen, as Esther watches on; while John's later conversations with a flirtatious neighbour does little to blunt Esther's gradually desire to manipulate, exploit and ultimately ruin this family. Villains in these sorts of films often get what they want, and the supporting acts often aid them with their languid actions and things are no different here.
We've seen this sort of material before, but those unfamiliar with the first Omen sequel, or perhaps even the Child's Play films, will not be impressed. The tale of a child bullied for being different, before realising they have a powerful characteristic over those around them - young and old alike, before thus deciding to go on a bit of a rampage, is almost certainly borrowed from "Damien: Omen II" as bullies trigger this murderous entity who then creatively proceeds to pop anyone off who dares threaten their homicidal run. But hey, if you're into watching the latest mainstream slice of horror thriller fiction, wherein there are some jumps and some frights and a twist that does well to cover up the blandness of everything else, you might want to take Orphan home with you.