ORPHAN

US, 2009, 123 minutes, Colour.
Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Jimmy Bennett, Margo Martindale.
Directed by Jaume Collett- Serra.

If you like an intelligent and well-made thriller with some touches to terror, then this one is well worth a try. One of the problems of reviewing the film is that the marketers have asked writers not to reveal a final twist. So, some comments about the atmosphere of Orphan.

The setting is a snowy Connecticut winter (filmed in Canada). It opens with a rather gruesome birth sequence which is, we find, literally nightmarish. This leads us with some apprehension to a portrait of a family: the mother, Kate (Vera Farmiga giving a fine performance as a tormented and devoted mother), father, John (Peter Sarsgaard offering a complex character who is both sympathetic and irritating), their son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) and a five year old hearing-impaired Maxine (Aryanna Engineer who acts convincingly, and is hearing-impaired in real life). But, Kate has a desire to offer the love she has lost with her still-born daughter, so she wants to adopt.

This, of course, is where the orphan comes in, nine year old Russian Esther, a polite, articulate, artistic and ingratiating girl whom Kate and John cannot resist. Well, not at first, at least. This is a variation on the old 'bad seed' story, very well performed by Isabelle Furthman (aged eleven at the time). The film runs for over two hours, rather long for this kind of film, but it is always interesting, building up atmosphere, indicating aspects for tension, gradually changing the thrust of the film – and that is where the reviewer had better stop and leave the audience to experience the twist (which I wasn't expecting in the way it is revealed!).

1.The impact, the human story, the touches of horror, the ultimate violence, the revelation of the truth?

2.The Connecticut setting, winter and snow, the icy roads, the eerie atmosphere? The house, John as a designer? The musical score?

3.The credibility of the plot: John and his wife, the children, Daniel and Max, pregnancy and the stillbirth? The mother with her love and desire? Adoption? The institution, the visits, the contacts? Sister Abigail? Meeting Esther, her charm, with John, with his wife? Their lives, the stillbirth and the effect on each of them? Esther, going home, the delight, spoiling her? The gifts? Her room? Her behaviour, the change, the threats? The horror and the violence? The wife and her drinking in the past, the temptation to drink, nerves? John and his attitude towards her? The children, Daniel and his dislike of Esther? The bond with Max?

4.The opening, the nightmare, the hospital, the birth, the blood?

5.The wife as the centre of the film, her dream, the reality of the stillbirth, the psychological damage, her history of drinking, her job, giving it up, music and playing? John and his failure in the past? His mother and her presence and criticism? Her love for her children? The ordinary life? The visit to the institution, her joy, the discussions with Sister Abigail, meeting Esther? Her experiencing temptations to drink – and resisting? Her sessions with the psychiatrist, the advice from the psychiatrist? Her going to the psychiatrist with John concerning Esther, her reaction, her anger? Esther coming home, the happiness, the difficulties emerging? The phone call to Sister Abigail? Sister’s visit, the discussions, the lack of information? The phone call from the institution that Sister Abigail had not returned? The discovery of the body and her suspicions? Esther’s behaviour at school, the reports, her behaviour in the playground? Esther playing the innocent? Esther charming John? Playing the piano, the wife thinking that she had lied? Daniel, the fire? His going to hospital? The killing of Abigail and the frightening of Max, Max unable to tell the truth? The question of the institution, the internet search, the phone calls, the failure of record, the story about Esther and the previous family, the seduction, the burning and the death of the family? The phone calls from the institution, the revelation about Esther being a middle-aged woman, posing as a child? In hospital, the warnings, the wife and her erratic driving to warn John? Discovering John dead? The confrontation with Esther, the ice, going through the ice, emerging?

6.Esther, first impressions, charming, her necklace, the old-fashioned dress, her art, charming John, charming the wife? Sister Abigail happy? Her manner of speaking, accent, vocabulary? From Russia? Her expressions of gratitude? Arrival home, the gifts, fussing about her, the room, the meals? Daniel and his dislike? The clash with her? John and his taking her side? Max and the bond between the two, sharing secrets? At school, the taunts, Daniel trying to ignore her, the bullying from the boys, the girl and her criticisms? The girl on the slide and her fall? The wife and her suspicions? Daniel, his misbehaviour, forbidden the tree house, Max getting the lock, Esther confiding in Max, the confrontation with Sister Abigail, killing her, burying her? Her abrupt and brusque language about sexuality? The tree house, attacking Daniel, the burning, Daniel falling from the tree? In hospital, her interfering with the machines, his death? Smothering him? With Max, the threats, the dangers? John and his drinking, her consoling him, the attempted seduction, John’s reaction, the knife, her killing him? Confronting the wife, on the ice, the hole, her death? The revelation about her age, her look, her behaviour?

7.Daniel, his dislike, at school and his siding against Esther, at the meals, reaction, the tree house, the ban, his going to the tree house, Esther confronting him, burning the house? His falling from the tree? The death in hospital?

8.Max, her hearing impediment, her liking of Esther, Esther treating her well, the sharing of secrets, Sister Abigail’s death, her continued fears? Her mother getting her out of the house and danger at the end?

9.John, his work, design, love for his wife, his children, going to the psychiatrist, his wife’s drinking problem, his past, taking sides with Esther, whether to separate or not? Esther at the end, his drinking, the attempted seduction, his shock, his death?

10.The psychiatrist, her friendship with the wife, the issue of drinking, the couple going together, the psychiatrist charmed by Esther and judging in her favour?

11.The experts, the institution, the phone calls, the information, the reality about Esther and Estonia?

12.How effective a horror thriller – taking people through ordinary experiences and revealing the horror aspects?