Orphan review

You have to wonder what the criteria are when casting your average creepy kid these days. Cold, soulless eyes? Check. Slightly sweet but equally spine shuddering smile? Check. Thick Eastern European accent? Uh, check? Apparently in order to give this little Damienette that extra fright factor, the filmmakers felt it necessary to make her Russian. Because nothing strikes the fear of God into the American public like a clinical, commanding Russian accent.

Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) is a gifted nine-year-old orphan who is adopted by John and Kate Coleman (Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga respectively); a couple whose good will is compensating for their own past tragedy. As their newly initiated daughter struggles to fit in with their two other children, the family’s bond becomes increasingly strained and Esther’s innocence is called into question. The real horror sets in when Esther’s true nature is revealed and the lives of everyone who cross her come into danger, often in the bloodiest of circumstances.

This is a brave film but by and large one that struggles to address its own shortcomings – too often resorting to clumsy, misfiring cliché. Just when you start to feel the presence of a well-crafted, original horror movie; a bathroom mirror slams shut, an ear piercing crescendo forces a cheap thrill, and the embarrassment of realising your error in judgement sinks in. On top of that there are just far too many unintentionally humorous moments. You simply can’t get away with having two young sisters drag a bloodied nun’s body off a road without prompting a smirk.

Challenging undertones of a mother’s post-stillbirth trauma and a father’s adulterous past give the film some much needed character depth, but any significant sentiment is largely fleeting. Avoiding the horrors of real life in favour of cheap scares, Orphan belittles its audience’s intellect by resolving serious issues in the simplest and goriest manner possible. The only message the film manages to convey with any conviction (albeit unintentionally) is a strong anti-adoption one, as the final revelation exposes some alarming administrative blunders that would make Madonna think twice.

The over-hyped climactic twist is a little far-fetched, but it does add a fresh dimension to this otherwise tired format. Such an emphatically delivered bombshell has an implosive effect here, however, as the realisation of Esther’s true vulnerability ultimately instigates her downfall. There is a great piece of horror cinema buried here somewhere, but a lack of ambition and imagination relinquishes any real staying power. In essence, Esther might not be your typical problem child, but she does little more than reinforce a stale stereotype.