The one thing, above all else, that I find creepy in horror films are kids. Not like 'part of the family' kids, but the 'there's something not quite right here' kids. Like Damien in the Omen films, and the twins in The Shining (and that was a big factor as to why I couldn't watch that film all the way through, that was how terrifying I found them!) So I decided to give Orphan a watch, and it's safe to say you can add it to the pile of scary movie kids.
Following a dip into alcoholism after their last child was stillborn, Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John Coleman (Peter Sarsgaard) adopt Esther, a 9 year old Russian girl from an orphanage to join their family, along with deaf mute daughter Max (Aryana Engineer, actually hearing impaired in real life) and Daniel (Jimmy Bennett, who you may remember playing the child Kirk in the Star Trek reboot), but before long things start to take a sinister turn.
Orphan is a routinely terrifying film that manages to make even the most innocent surrounding, like a play park, or a treehouse seem tense beyond belief. But none of this would have been possible without the orphan herself, Esther (a brilliant performance by Isabelle Fuhrman) who is absolutely chilling throughout. The dialogue that she has to come out with at some points in the film (not less her actions) must be hard for a child actor to pull off, but Fuhrman really does. An actress to look out for in the future.
Farmiga also impresses as the distraught mother, but to be honest Sarsgaard and the other kids aren't really given that much to do in comparison, but no one drags the film down or anything. It was also nice to see CCH Pounder (who I last saw in The Shield, well Avatar too, but that was terrible, so doesn't count) as the nun who runs the orphanage.
The film has quite the lengthy running time for what it is, but any fears of it starting to drag for me were soon put to bed by an absolutely bat shit crazy final act revelation that while is quite, quite mental, doesn't cause it to come off the rails, rather take things to a whole different level. A brave move for sure, but it works. And to be honest, without it I don't know where they could have taken the film and kept my interest.
****
If you find creepy kids scary, this will be the terrifying ride for you. If it's clowns, you may want to knock a star off. A tense, at times mildly disturbing film that is actually improved by the bonkers final act. Add to that a great titular performance, and you have a highly recommended horror.
1 comment:
Glad you liked it; I've only seen it once and that was at the cinema & I just remember being so dumbfounded by *that* twist that it made me love the film all the more! :)
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