Very creepy and well done

Rating: 8/10 (24 August 2009)

So after a very frightening trailer, Orphan looked like a very interesting movie, even though we have done many of the evil children films, sometimes it doesn't hurt to see a new twist to the story. Even the rating on IMDb kept going up and up after a few weeks, so I checked out Orphan and over all while it's a very strange movies and no doubt has some flaws here and there, it's a very effective and chilling horror movie. What truly makes the movie though are the top notch performances we get. Isabelle Fuhrman who plays Esther, this little girl is only 12 years old?! I can't believe how well she did, how creepy and charming she could be, her presence on screen was absolutely sensational. Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard who play the adoptive parents are perfect, their chemistry was on key and also are heart breaking to watch as you see their marriage on the shakes over this manipulative little girl that is just plain evil.
Kate and John Coleman are having problems in their marriage after Kate's third child was stillborn. The loss is particularly hard on Kate, who is still recovering from a drinking habit that cost her her job. They adopt Esther, a 9-year-old Russian girl they had met, from the local orphanage. While Kate and John's daughter Max embraces Esther, their son Daniel is less welcoming. Kate grows suspicious when Esther, who watched Kate and John have sex, expresses far more knowledge of sex and its slang than would be expected for a child her age. Kate is further alarmed when Sister Abigail, the head of the orphanage, warns her and John about Esther's tendency to be around when things go wrong. Esther overhears this and later silences Sister Abigail forever. John does not believe Kate, despite continued ominous behavior by Esther. Kate learns that Esther was housed at a mental institution in Estonia called the Saarne Institute. Daniel decides to go to the police. However, Esther sets the tree house on fire, intending to get rid of Daniel. Daniel escapes by falling out of the tree, and gets a severe neck injury. Esther again tries to kill him at the hospital by smothering him with a pillow. As doctors rush to save Daniel, Kate angrily knocks Esther down for doing that and is sedated by doctors. But Esther isn't done yet with her plan, but what's wrong with Esther? Well, apparently she's the hand that is rocking the cradle.
While Orphan is a good movie, it does have it's share of flaws here and there. Kate slaps Esther severely when she suspects Esther of trying to murder her son, in front of people no less, yet somehow no police are called and she can walk easily out of the hospital after being sedated. Also how did the parents adopt a child only after 3 weeks of meeting her? Normally this takes a good long while, admittedly this is a movie, but still I'm supposed to believe this? Also even though the ending was a good twist, sadly after seeing way too many movies I was able to figure out what the ending was before everyone finds out all together. But if you have continued to read my comment this long I would actually recommend this movie if you let go of the little flaws here and there, this was a very entertaining thrill ride of a movie. This is one of the better movies I have seen this year and it's definitely worth the watch.
8/10