Orphan

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

An outwardly angelic little girl displays an unforeseen devilish streak upon moving into the home of her new adoptive parents in this shocker starring Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga. In the aftermath of a miscarriage, prospective parents Kate (Farmiga) and John (Sarsgaard) find their lives turned upside down; their marriage is falling apart, and the demons of Kate's past begin manifesting themselves in a series of horrifying nightmares. Deciding that the best means of achieving some semblance of normalcy is to simply adopt, the dejected couple visits a local orphanage. There, they are both drawn to a nine-year-old girl named Esther. But Esther isn't as sweet as first impressions suggest, and almost immediately after welcoming the young child into their home, Kate and John suspect that something is terribly wrong with their adoptive daughter. Kate can see right through Esther's seraphic charm, though her attempts to convince everyone else of the truth go unheeded by her skeptical family and friends. By the time anyone bothers to take Kate seriously, it may be too late to prevent a devastating tragedy from unfolding. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV, Color
• Subtitle: English, French, Spanish
• Features:
  • Additional scenes including a chilling alternate ending

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Peter Sarsgaard - John Coleman
       Vera Farmiga - Kate Coleman
       Isabelle Fuhrman - Esther
       CCH Pounder - Sister Abigail
       Jimmy Bennett - Daniel Coleman

• Director:

  Jaume Collet-Serra

• Producer:

  Leonardo DiCaprio, Susan Downey, Jennifer Davisson Killoran, Joel Silver

• Screen Story:

  Alex Mace

• Screenwriter:

  David Leslie Johnson

• Cinematographer:

  Don Carmody, Jeff Cutter

• Composer (Music Score):

  John Ottman

• Editor:

  Tim Alverson

• Production Designer:

  Tom Meyer

• Art Director:

  Patrick Banister, Pierre Perrault

• Co-producer:

  David Barrett, Christoph Fisser, Richard Mirisch, Henning Molfenter, Erik Olsen, Carl L. Woebcken

• Associate Producer:

  Aaron Auch, Ethan Erwin, Stacey Fields, Sarah Meyer

REVIEWS:

• Evil kid movies are a staple of the horror genre, and they're usually pretty predictable. That's not necessarily a bad thing; seeing innocent little faces twist up with murderous rage is creepy to begin with -- that's why these movies exist. And to a large extent, Orphan is no different. However, this movie comes with a twist: a truly insane surprise ending that's so bizarre it's almost innovative. It will delight horror fans looking for something outlandishly weird, and induce vomiting for any casual, mild-mannered moviegoers, who assumed that a film starring Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard would be all pared down and modest. The two leads play parents Kate and John, an upper-middle-class couple with two lovely children, one lovely home, and a giant pile of familial issues, ranging from alcoholism to unresolved grief over the stillbirth of their daughter about a year before. So, of course, the best way to heal the household is to bring in an unnervingly sophisticated little girl -- in this case, a nine-year-old Russian orphan named Esther. She's smart and polite, and you can tell she's evil because she's creepily articulate and really pale. Unexplained accidents and eerie stares soon escalate into actual maliciousness, and Esther becomes exponentially more vicious -- though John's been manipulated by her cuteness and doesn't see it. Kate tries to convince him, but has no credibility with anybody because of the lingering stigma over her alcoholism, so she goes steadily bonkers having a wicked child in the house. This whole cerebral backbone of the story is actually pretty solid, no doubt because of the high-caliber talent in the starring roles. And it's a good thing, because for a movie about an little girl, there's a lot of screen time devoted to the emotional narrative, and there are only a couple of violent scenes in the whole film (though they do get increasingly wilder). But, of course, by the time the big twist happens in the final act, you're in the middle of a frenzied race against time, and there are crazy-bombs dropping left and right. It would be a crime to spoil any details about the madness of that climax, but suffice it to say, it more than makes up for the rest of the movie being somewhat more discreet. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
• Evil kid movies are a staple of the {\horror} genre, and they're usually pretty predictable. That's not necessarily a bad thing; seeing innocent little faces twist up with murderous rage is creepy to begin with -- that's why these movies exist. And to a large extent, {#Orphan} is no different. However, this movie comes with a twist: a truly insane surprise ending that's so bizarre it's almost innovative. It will delight {\horror} fans looking for something outlandishly weird, and induce vomiting for any casual, mild-mannered moviegoers, who assumed that a film starring {$Vera Farmiga} and {$Peter Sarsgaard} would be all pared down and modest. The two leads play parents {%Kate} and {%John}, an upper-middle-class couple with two lovely children, one lovely home, and a giant pile of familial issues, ranging from alcoholism to unresolved grief over the stillbirth of their daughter about a year before. So, of course, the best way to heal the household is to bring in an unnervingly sophisticated little girl -- in this case, a nine-year-old Russian orphan named {%Esther}. She's smart and polite, and you can tell she's evil because she's creepily articulate and really pale. Unexplained accidents and eerie stares soon escalate into actual maliciousness, and {%Esther} becomes exponentially more vicious -- though {%John}'s been manipulated by her cuteness and doesn't see it. {%Kate} tries to convince him, but has no credibility with anybody because of the lingering stigma over her alcoholism, so she goes steadily bonkers having a wicked child in the house. This whole cerebral backbone of the story is actually pretty solid, no doubt because of the high-caliber talent in the starring roles. And it's a good thing, because for a movie about an little girl, there's a lot of screen time devoted to the emotional narrative, and there are only a couple of violent scenes in the whole film (though they do get increasingly wilder). But, of course, by the time the big twist happens in the final act, you're in the middle of a frenzied race against time, and there are crazy-bombs dropping left and right. It would be a crime to spoil any details about the madness of that climax, but suffice it to say, it more than makes up for the rest of the movie being somewhat more discreet. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

CUSTOMER REVIEWS: