Movie Review - Orphan

Hey there. I must admit that the advertising for this film sucked me in. As I watched the advertising for this film, I asked the question if this film will follow suit of other films like The Good Son or The Omen. The marketing for this film definitely made it seem that way, with the majority of it focusing on Esther and her "secret". Upon seeing the film, I am glad to say that the movie wasn't so much about Esther, but just as much about the family in the film.

The film is a refreshing in the sense that it did not follow the typical format of a horror film. A typical horror film will showcase the antagonist killing off various characters in the film, while the protagonist goes about and discovers the identity, or weakness, of the antagonist. While the film does have it's path that will label it as horror, the film really shines when it comes to the actors and their portrayal of the characters. It is great to have a film where the characters are well developed. You feel for these people as for what they have gone through by the brilliant acting. You have the cheating husband in John (Peter Sarsgaard) that tries to wrong his right, you have the ex-alcoholic mother Kate (Vera Farmiga) who continues to battle those demons, you have the over zealous and negligent son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett), you have a partially deaf child Max (Aryana Engineer)(which may or may not have been cause by her mother) and then you have the problematic "child" in Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman). This is not your happy-super-go-lucky family. This is a family that has issues and had issues before we were introduced to them. Esther did not cause these problems, she merely added on and intensified what was already in disarray. Esther's character is not so much as the "kill 'em" type as she is more the master manipulator. Such as when she hugs her daddy extra tight while staring at Daniel with a slight smirk on her face. Your first glimpse into who Esther really is.