Orphan

Orphan is a 15 rated film due to being full of disturbing scenes that may unsettle a younger viewer. It is a psychological thriller, with lots of mystery, horror, suspense and drama. The story line is of a couple, Kate Coleman (Vera Farmiga) and her husband John (Peter Sarsgaard) have experienced a strain in their marriage since their third child was announced as stillborn. They come to a decision to adopt a 9 year-old Estonian girl, Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), from their local orphanage, who turns out not being as sweet and innocent as she seems. Kate and John's deaf-mute daughter Max (Aryana Engineer) takes a shine to Esther almost straight away, their son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) is a lot more conscious towards her.

The film itself is cleverly disguised to show a happy family in one light, and in another- the family from hell. The lighting has many perspectives as there are many scenes that are so similar yet so different.

As the film progresses Kate notices there may be something up with Esther, due to her having such advanced knowledge on sex for her age. After an incident in the playground where Esther seriously injures a girl that has been bullying her Kate's worry increases. It becomes worse after Esther overhears a conversation between Sister Abigail and Kate, saying that bad things always happen when Esther is around. As Sister Abigail is leaving in her car Esther pushes Max into the road, causing Sister Abigail to swerve, when she goes to see that Max is okay Esther appears behind her and brutally murders her in front of Max with a hammer. She then convinces Max to help hide the weapon and the body.

John does not believe Kate that there is something wrong with Esther, so Kate goes on a hunt to see what she can find. She stumbles across Esther's Bible, as she looks inside she discovers that it is from the Saarne Institute in Estonia, which she later finds out is a mental institute. She e-mails them a picture of Esther to see if they can dig up any information on her.

The plot unravels and each character finds out that there is something seriously wrong with Esther one by one, but it doesn't become clear exactly what it is until the end...

I would recommend this film as it is filled with twists that leave you on the edge of your seat and wanting more. I recommended this film to a member of my group and she found it helpful for ideas to our thriller opening and also a good watch for herself.