Review: Orphan

Orphan

OPENING: 07/24/2009

STUDIO: Warner Bros.

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

SOUNDTRACK:

The Charge
There’s something wrong with Esther.

Opening Statement
I honestly didn’t expect much from Orphan, mainly due to the fact that it was directed by House of Wax helmer Jaume Collet-Serra and slightly due to its seemingly uninspired premise. The film begins in a fairly conventional manner and concludes in a similarly conventional fashion. Within those ho-hum bookends, however, is a crackerjack thriller that boldly dives into subversive territory without even blinking.

Facts of the Case
The film opens with an over-the-top depiction of a childbirth gone horribly wrong. At a certain point, the events become so bizarre we are sure it must be a dream. It is. The dreamer is Kate Coleman (Vera Farmiga, The Departed), a married mother of two who lost her third child just before giving birth. The baby’s death has left a hole in Kate’s heart, and wants to fill it by adopting a child and providing the love and affection she would have given her own. Her husband John (Peter Sarsgaard, The Skeleton Key) is supportive of Kate’s wishes, so off they go to one of those adoption events where you get to meet a bunch of children. My job has given me the opportunity to familiarize myself with such events in recent years, and I can tell you they are absolutely nothing like the one depicted here. But I digress…

While there are lots of cheerful children running around the orphanage, John casually wanders down the hallway towards one of the back rooms. He hears a girl singing, opens the door, and finds young Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman, Hounddog), a sweet-natured girl from Russia too shy to participate in the adoption party. John and Kate (Hey, wait a minute, those names sound familiar!) speak with Esther, quickly determine she is the child they want, papers are signed, and in no time Esther has become a member of the Coleman family. Unfortunately, tension, turmoil, and shall we say… less than ideal circumstances seem to follow Esther wherever she goes, leading Kate to suspect Esther may not be the sweet child they believed her to be. Is it possible she and John have adopted a very troubled child? Or worse, a flat-out evil child?

The Evidence
This certainly isn’t the first "scary child" movie we’ve seen and I it won’t be the last. Heck, this isn’t even the first go-round for actress Vera Farmiga, who just a couple of years ago starred in a film called Joshua. That one had a rather similar premise: an evil child drives a mother insane and the father doesn’t believe the child is evil. Joshua was simply too highbrow for its own good, making it creepier in theory than execution, more concerned with good taste than getting under your skin. Boy, that’s not a problem here!

Orphan is a shamelessly exploitative thriller that has no qualms about preying on the easily manipulated instincts of its audience. The film enters territory comparable to two other underrated flicks — Running Scared (which also starred Farmiga) and Tideland. If you saw either (doubtful, given their poor box office receipts) and were bothered by them, you would do well to stay far away from this. Sweet young children are forced to participate in all sorts of terribly perilous and violent situations. I won’t describe any, for sake of avoiding spoilers, but suffice to say you should expect to cringe at least a couple times. It would all be terribly offensive, if not for the fact that this is one effective thriller.

Orphan wanders into dark corners and allows itself to become less neat and comfortable than many modern horror flicks. Given the anything-goes world we live in, there may not be any violent act that makes every audience member squirm, but there is one scene on the living room couch which may just do the trick. It just goes to show not all horror is generated by the threat of violence.

The acting is stellar throughout. Farmiga makes an effective lead, nervously wringing her hands and allowing those expressive eyes to generate a wild intensity that removes the need for her to shout and scream all the time. Sarsgaard is equally effective as her husband, playing a man so level-headed and understanding you can’t help but get a bit irritated with him. After all, level-headed doesn’t always equal perceptive. The best performance comes from 11-year-old Isabelle Fuhrman, who demonstrates remarkable maturity and range in a very challenging role. While I have to wonder why her parents would allow her to play such a part, she does wonders with it. I was also pleased to see a brief but important appearance by Karel Roden (Hellboy), who provides us with the film’s most crucial piece of information.

Just a side note: Some adoption organizations are unhappy with the film, since they feel it plays on fears about adopted children and may potentially discourage people from considering adoption. I don’t think this is a serious concern. Any adult who changes their mind about adoption as a result of seeing this film doesn’t have the mental fortitude needed to raise a child anyway.

Closing Statement
The film does have its problems, succumbing to certain horror conventions, while lending a comfortable safety net of dreary familiarity to a story that tries to be ambitious. As such, Orphan is merely a good film rather than something special. Not a bad choice, if you’re an adventurous moviegoer looking for a movie with more bite than bark.

The Verdict
7/10

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