A well crafted and well acted; surprisingly good thriller

Rating: 10/10 (30 January 2010)

Orphan, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra; whose earlier effort includes Goal II : Living for Dreams; is a movie about a couple Kate and John Coleman (played by the current toast of Hollywood Vera Farmiga; and Peter Saarsgard); who have two kids. Kate suffers a miscarriage in her third pregnancy (rendered brilliantly in the opening sequence); and consequently decides to adopt a third child. Enter Esther; a seemingly introvert, mature girl to whom both of them take an immediate liking. Papers are signed, documents passed over; and Esther is on her way to meet the family; delighting the Kate and John with her efforts to learn sign language( one of the kids is a deaf-and-dumb).And then, Esther slowly starts to unravel her true character, as the kids first; and the parents later on realize that she is most definitely not what she seems...
The movie fires up with a scorching opening sequence; showing Kate being carried off for her third child; and suddenly there is blood all around; and John is filming her with a handy cam!Surely she must be hallucinating! The rest of the movie falls in the realm of the conventional thriller with the kid gone bad routine; however it is an extremely well done routine. The movie does not shy away from graphic violence; and at the same time the director also gives us genuinely creepy moments; like the playground castle sequence.
The twist in the end is the game changer/deal breaker : from what I have read in other reviews; this one works for some; does not work for others. It worked for me; in that in gave a satisfying explanation to what was happening in the movie; whether outside that it holds water or not is an entirely different matter.
The acting is also solid; with Vera Farmiga(she's everywhere now suddenly!; what with her big break in The Departed) delivering a believable performance. Esther, portrayed by Isabelle Fuhrman also pulls in a really good show.
Overall, yes, a must-see; with being one of the better thriller/horror movies to come out in recent years.