ORPHAN
***
There’s something wrong with Esther. For about a month now, one only had to look up at billboards while driving or check out the side of a passing bus to know this - Warner Bros. spared no expense on its ad campaign for Orphan, plastering actress Isabelle Fuhrman’s creepy little Esther all over L.A. with the film’s famously foreboding tag line. There’s something wrong with Esther. It’s brilliant - who wouldn’t want to see a film about a murderous little girl, especially one as diabolical-looking as Esther?
I really dug Orphan, at the same time that I understand why those looking for a quick slasher-fest were left disappointed. A deliberately-paced chiller that evolves from family drama to all-out bloodbath, at 123 minutes Orphan is much longer than your standard horror film (by comparison, 2003’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake was only 98 minutes long). Setting up stakes that add to the tension of the film, first-time writers David Johnson and Alex Mace take their time in introducing the audience to the Coleman family - Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard are perfectly cast as Kate and John Coleman, young parents of two who are still mourning the loss of a third child. Equally impressive are the child actors themselves - Jimmy Bennett’s Daniel is a believable brat, and Aryana Engineer is as exceptional as she is downright adorable as hearing-impaired daughter Max (Engineer is actually hearing-impaired, and was discovered when an agent saw her signing to her mother).
Mourning the loss of a third child, the Coleman’s decide travel to an adoption agency and are instantly taken by the erudite, artistic Esther, a Russian orphan with a strange sense of fashion and even stranger ability to speak to adults at their level. They bring her home, and of course it’s not long before strange things start to happen - again, lest we forget, there is something wrong with Esther. As the titular orphan, actress Fuhrman is a revelation - she handles some mature subject matter like a pro, and what’s more, seems to enjoy herself the more her character indulges her dark designs.
Spoilers are a pain, and it’d be a downright shame to say too much about this movie - the mystery of Esther is a blast to try to figure out, with her black choker necklace, frumpy little dresses, and violent outbursts (one of which in particular puts De Mornay’s toilet-thrashing in Hand that Rocks the Cradle to shame). Moreover, so much detail is poured into this film, particularly in characterization, that you remain confident throughout that as crazy as things may get - and they get crazy - our Big Reveal will not disappoint.
And it sure as shit doesn’t. Yes, I should have seen it coming - those of you who did can mock me in person (and some of you have). Still I’m glad to have been caught unaware, if only to take this film for its full ride.
- Logan Crow, 08-12-09
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