
Kate and John Coleman are rebuilding their troubled marriage after the loss of their baby. The couple decide to adopt a child. When they meet 9-year-old Esther at the St. Marina Orphanage, they immediately fall in love with the well-educated orphan. Their son, Daniel is hostile to his new sister, but their deaf mute daughter, Max is enchanted with her - at first. Eventually, Kate begins to feel that Esther is manipulative and possibly even psychologically damaged. John refuse... (Full plot summary below)
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Kate and John Coleman are rebuilding their troubled marriage after the loss of their baby. The couple decide to adopt a child. When they meet 9-year-old Esther at the St. Marina Orphanage, they immediately fall in love with the well-educated orphan. Their son, Daniel is hostile to his new sister, but their deaf mute daughter, Max is enchanted with her - at first. Eventually, Kate begins to feel that Esther is manipulative and possibly even psychologically damaged. John refuses to listen to his wife's misgivings. Kate calls Sister Abigail at the orphanage, and the nun informs her that Esther has a troubled and mysterious history. Kate delves further into Esther's past and discovers she is not what she seems to be.
Leave your thoughts about Orphan.
| OregonianMike RussellIt takes too long to get started, it pulls some key punches, its dialogue is deeply uninteresting, it relies way too heavily on endless jump-scares and its finale is pure slasher-flick formula. |
| Bryant Frazer's Deep FocusBryant FrazerIts many outright depictions of children in jeopardy are scary, but its marital drama is even more unsettling. |
| ESplatterLucius GoreDaring and fresh, 'Orphan' is easily one of the best horror movies of 2009. |
| Aisle SeatMike McGranaghanThis is the rare fright flick that is actually grounded in some genuine human emotion. |
| Detroit NewsAdam GrahamThe film rests on Furhman's shoulders, and she's up to the task. |
| ColeSmithey.comCole Smithey...a persuasive addition to the subgenre of bad-seed-horror films like "The Omen" where a creepy little kid wreaks havoc and murder on the lives of ill-equipped adults. |
| Movies.comDave WhiteIf we could all stop for a moment and think about how excellent and uplifting garbage can be, America would rally around this movie like the treasure it is. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertYou want a good horror film about a child from hell, you got one. Do not, under any circumstances, take children to see it. Take my word on this. |
| Reeling ReviewsLaura CliffordDirector Jaume Collet-Serra (2005's "House of Wax") serves up a hoot of a trashploitation flick that both follows preset patterns and upends them. |
| TheFilmFile.comDustin PutmanAn unnerving psychological thriller with the atmospheric elegance of classics like Rosemary's Baby, Don't Look Now and Dressed to Kill, masterful in its blends of style and substance, violence and mayhem. |