Jaume Collet-Serra (Director)
Orphan; A story about a heterosexual couple with two children in the traditional family format (older boy, younger girl) who adopt an orphaned 9 year old Russian girl, only for their adoption dream to be a nightmare more than they could have realised.
Though a glaringly white film, from the cast to the roles the family play, the job roles, two cars, the house they have and the way they interact with one another, it is brave subject matter to tackle for any director, and Jaume Collet-Serra has managed this delicately.
The first 20 minutes of the film or so feel like a completely different movie. Aside from the visceral trauma birth in the opening scenes, the impact of this event hits hard in our heroine Kates’ fragile relationship with her husband John, and the close, loving relationship with her 5 year old daughter, Max. The plot is complicated by Kate’s past; She is a recovering alcoholic and has been struggling since the death of her still born daughter, Jessica. Her relationship with her 12 year old son Daniel seems non- existent and her relationship with her mother in law leaves a lot to be desired.
In typical fashion of covering the cracks in their relationship with plasters instead of fixing them, John and Kate decide to adopt a child. Due to the frail nature of their relationship this already seems like a terrible idea, coupled with the fact that Daniel finds the child strange and cannot accept her as part of the family.
Isabelle Fuhrman is excellent as Esther. From the moment that we are introduced to her in the orphanage, painting pictures and telling stories, to the first moment of menace that we see in her, when she casually uses the word “fuck” in front of her adoptive mother, or killing an injured pigeon with a brick in front of her adoptive siblings; There are so many instances where her behaviour just isn’t quite right, where something is ever so slightly off about Esther, but the family dynamic is so warped that it’s overlooked.
This cycles back to Kate, adoptive mother played by Vera Farmiga. She is the only one who starts to notice something “off” about her new child the moment the instances occur, and raises the issues to her husband. Her voices of concern are frequently brushed off as nothing, which is a huge point of frustration with this film. John (Peter Sarsgaard) is also slightly off throughout the entire film; His relationship with his wife and children always seems rather disjointed, which makes his relationship with Esther all the more odd, and his dismissal of Kate’s opinions annoying. He’s hardly a super dad and there is no indication in the film that he deserves to act as such.
Kate’s loss of identity as a woman and fears of failure as a mother based on previous events is a primary theme that is evident throughout the film. The film, including the adoption of Esther, appears to show Kate as she is in stages of grief, accepting recognition of her abilities as a parent (thanks to Esther,) being confused and almost pushed back to drink due to the state of her marriage and relationship with Esther, to regaining her power in the climax of the story where she is forced to get out of her head and save her children. In fact, it can almost be that this pivotal moment occurs when her biggest blocker, her husband, isn’t in the picture.
It’s a brilliant psychological film with an unexpected twist. (Unexpected if internet sites haven’t already ruined it for you.) The film is slow to start, but that is part of what makes this film so powerful. It slaps you in the face with menace when you aren’t expecting it, and, like Esther forcing the family apart without them realising it, the same is done to the audience, and you are deep in the heart of the story without even noticing until the darker side of the story starts to unfold. It won’t keep you awake at night but it will scratch an itch if you’re wanting to watch a well made horror movie.
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