Annie she ain't!

Rating: 8/10 (20 November 2009)

Orphan not only belongs to the 'evil kid' category of horror (The Bad Seed, Bloody Birthday, Village of the Damned, The Omen), but is also part of the 'cuckoo in the nest' sub-genre (The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, The Stepfather, Pacific Heights, The Good Son), where an outsider is accepted into a household only to destroy it from within. In this case, a couple coming to terms with the still-birth of third child Jessica have their lives shattered after adopting Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), a seemingly perfect nine-year-old Russian-born orphan girl, who inevitably turns out to be a manipulative, home-wrecking psycho with a terrifying secret.
The format may seem familiar, the script is occasionally predictable (that rose bush was destined to get trashed!), and the film might rely rather too heavily on formulaic false scares to keep the tension running high, but Orphan is still a winner thanks to some brilliant performances (particularly from the young and very talented Fuhrman, who is definitely 'one to watch'), slick direction from Jaume Collet-Serra, and one hell of a twisted denouement that goes to prove that Hollywood still has the power to shock when it really wants to.
At just over two hours, the film takes a fairly leisurely approach for much of its running time, allowing viewers to get to know the family intimately before the nasty stuff begins: we learn that mother Kate (Vera Farmiga) is a recovering alcoholic whose booze addiction was almost responsible for the death of her deaf daughter Max (Aryana Engineer), and that father John (Peter Sarsgaard) has not long admitted to having an extra-marital fling. Meanwhile, son Daniel is at the age where he is desperate to be accepted by his peers and is jealous of the attention lavished on the newest member of the family. Despite these characters' weaknesses, however, they are all extremely likable individuals, which makes it all the more horrifying when Esther begins to exploit the cracks in their relationships to terrifying effect.
Towards the end of the film, Collet-Serra picks up the pace, dropping the psychological horror in favour of slasher-style scares, complete with a house plunged into darkness, bloody knife attacks, and a seemingly dead Esther repeatedly returning for a few more stabs; but with flawless execution, a few genuinely unforeseen deaths, and a twist ending that, although perhaps a little preposterous, is both inventive and perverse, Orphan is a real treat for fans of frightfully freaky films.