Review of “Orphan”
If you missed the poster with its simple declaration that “There’s something wrong with Esther”, you don’t have to wait very long to find out that she’s the evil force at the heart of this fairly standard – and very well made - psychological thriller. A precocious and alarmingly self-managed little girl, Esther - aged 9 - is adopted into what seems like the squeaky-clean, all-American family: Mom Kate (Vera Farmiga) Dad John, (Peter Saarsgard) and two kids Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) and his younger sister Max (Aryana Engineer) . But Esther’s arrival, and her distinctly malevolent behaviour, starts to unravel the family’s stability. She picks away at their weaknesses, exposing Kate’s alcoholism and guilt, as well as John’s eye for other women. She also takes advantage of Max’s deafness and Daniel’s jealousy of her as cute new addition to the family. Esther is the consummate political player in a deadly game of unhappy families.
Increasingly desperate as she begins to realise that there is something very wrong with the cuckoo in the nest, Kate becomes isolated from the rest of her family, with no-one prepared to see her point of view. As the accidents and incidents mount, Kate stops tackling Esther head-on and works to uncover her secret past. But Esther is an id-like force, who will stop at nothing to get what she wants, and the film heads for a mum versus maniac showdown.
Children wise beyond their age have long made for creepy characters, and Isabella Fuhrman gives a pitch perfect performance as this manipulative, charismatic and very nasty little Esther. As the opposing mother-force Vera Farmiga has the chance to show off her extensive skills, taking us on a roller-coaster ride from sexy and sensitive to cornered and cowering, with just about everything in between. Engineer and Bennett also give fine performances as the outwitted siblings .
The film works best when edgily playing out the delicate power struggle between mother and new daughter, thanks to some fine writing by screenwriter David Johnson. But with the battle lines drawn so quickly, and no underlying search for Esther’s motivation in play, there are few surprises to work with. There are also some unexplained production design elements (Esther’s strange paintings and clothes), which add texture but unnecessary length. Director Jaume Collet-Sera’s clear understanding of the genre would have been much tighter with 15 minutes clipped from the two hour running time.
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