Chilling, Mysterious & Delightfully Creepy

Rating: Null/10 (18 April 2017)

A confidently crafted, patiently narrated & brilliantly acted psychological horror that makes terrific use of available resources to create a sense of foreboding, Orphan brings its chilling, mysterious & delightfully creepy tale to life with incredible restraint, and is a much welcome entry in the world of horror that manages to effectively sustain its ominous atmosphere from the first frame to the last.
The story of Orphan concerns a couple who are coping with the recent loss of their unborn child, and decide to adopt one from the local orphanage. Enchanted by the grown-up demeanour of a 9- year old Russian girl, they decide to make her the newest member of their family. Things go quite smooth for a while but soon, a series of disturbing events start unfolding in & around their house.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, whose latest feature film was The Shallows, Orphan places much more emphasis on creating an aura that reeks of mystery & palpable tension rather than relying on jump scares to deliver the chills. Collet-Serra keeps the narrative tight & engaging throughout its runtime, and the script is no slouch either, for its characters are embedded with some personality.
Further amplifying its grim tone & unsettling feel is its remote setting & cold surroundings. Camera is expertly utilised on the set and its fluid movements, controlled zooms & sharp focus add shades of its own while the cold colour palette & apt lighting further enhance those images. Editing keeps the pace consistent from beginning to end while John Ottman's muted score silently complements the narrative.
Coming to the performances, Orphan features a fabulous cast in Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard & Isabelle Fuhrman, with the ladies stealing the show with effortless ease. Farmiga plays the role of wife & mother in accordance with the scene requirements and contributes with a well-measured input. Sarsgaard does well with what he's given, while Fuhrman is absolutely diabolical in her role and her performance is equally eerie & compelling.
On an overall scale, Orphan begins with a nightmarish sequence and concludes on a violent note, but keeps the plot consistently tense & gripping in the middle. The ending isn't entirely satisfying, for it heads into a familiar territory and becomes quite predictable but the positives do outweigh the negatives in this well-made chiller and Isabelle Fuhrman's knockout rendition single-handedly elevates it above your average horror film. Definitely worth a shot.