Orphan (2009)

A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be.

Director:

Jaume Collet-Serra

Writers:

David Johnson (screenplay), Alex Mace (story)

Stars:

Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vera Farmiga	...	Kate
Peter Sarsgaard	...	John
Isabelle Fuhrman	...	Esther
CCH Pounder	...	Sister Abigail
Jimmy Bennett	...	Daniel
Margo Martindale	...	Dr. Browning
Karel Roden	...	Dr. Varava
Aryana Engineer	...	Max
Rosemary Dunsmore	...	Grandma Barbara
Jamie Young	...	Brenda
Lorry Ayers	...	Joyce
Brendan Wall	...	Detective
Genelle Williams	...	Sister Judith
Mustafa Abdelkarim	...	Daniel's Friend
Landon Norris	...	Daniel's Friend

Storyline

Kate and John Coleman are rebuilding their troubled marriage. Kate had a drinking problem, but is in therapy and is doing well. She has been sober for one year. The couple decide to adopt a child. When they meet the nine-year-old Russian girl, Esther, at the St. Marina Orphanage, they immediately fall in love with the well-educated orphan. Their young son, Daniel, is hostile to his new sister; but their deaf daughter, little Max, is enchanted with her - at first. Eventually, Kate begins to feel that Esther is manipulative and possibly even psychologically disturbed. John refuses to listen to his wife's misgivings, and the wounds in their marriage reopen. Kate calls Sister Abigail at the orphanage, and the nun informs her that Esther has a troubled and mysterious history. Kate delves further into Esther's past and discovers she is not all she pretends to be.

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Plot Keywords:

girl | troubled marriage | nun | orphan | deaf mute | 

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Taglines:

You'll never guess her secret (UK Quad)

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, some sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

Kinowelt [de] Warner Bros. [au]

Country:

USA Canada Germany France

Language:

English American Sign Language Estonian

Release Date:

24 July 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Orphan

Filming Locations:

Centennial College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£570,146 (UK) (7 August 2009)

Gross:

$41,573,740 (USA) (2 October 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dark Castle Entertainment, Appian Way, Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Isabelle Fuhrman auditioned for the part of Esther while wearing an old-fashioned dress and ribbons around her wrists and neck.

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Goofs

When Kate drops the kids off for school, her vehicle is parked on a slant. She should have known without a doubt that the car was tampered with because the car would have immediately rolled backwards before she exited the vehicle if the vehicle was not in park.

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Quotes

[first lines]
John Coleman: Hang on. I know. You're doin' so good. You're doin' so good, honey. You all right?
Kate Coleman: Yeah.

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Crazy Credits

The opening production logos are against black, and are intermittently shown covered with fluorescent paint, as if under a flickering black light.

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Connections

Featured in Late Show with David Letterman: Episode #16.181 (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Re-Education (Through Labor)"
Written by Brandon Barnes, Zach Blair (as Zachariah Blair), Tim McIlrath (as Timothy Mcilwraith) and Joe Principe (as Joseph Principe)
Performed by Rise Against
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Significantly Thrilling and Outstandingly Portrayed

Orphan, the name says very little for what you get to see in the movie. I watched great horrors/thrillers, this movie with mild brutality and refreshingly thrill creates a great impression on audience pulses. Esther, especially, acted terrific in portraying psychotic behavior and the screenplay was just perfect to make it a picture perfect.

Be it, the twists introduced in the plot in the later half of the movie or the realistic resemblance of the whole plot, the movie is worth your buck on the big screen. Though the movie was 2hr long, it was a clever move by the director to inject some meaningful comedy into the movie so as to maintain the attention of the audience. An interesting point to note is that audience laughed quite a bit for almost 60% of the movie and then were shocked as the plot took twists and turns. This combination of humor along with shock is what makes this movie a brilliant thriller.

All in all the movie was successful in grabbing my attention, believing in such offbeat concepts and lastly giving the worth of my money. Hope you all go watch this terrific movie and feel the heat inside the Air-Conditioned Theaters. My rating for this movie 7.5/10