Orphan is a chilling psychological horror film that is truly engaging from start to finish. It is about familial love and coping with the loss of someone dear.

Kate Coleman (Vera Farmiga), a former alcoholic, and her husband lose their baby through a stillbirth. To deal with the loss, they decide to adopt a sweet little girl, Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), who is fond of painting and displays a level of maturity beyond her peers. With her addition to the family, joy is brought back to the once-distraught couple, but so is brought her troubled and dark past.

Orphan is terrifying. The premise may not be new, but its execution kept me on the edge of my seat. The film is packed with intense story beats and rarely slows down to let you breathe. Despite its two-hour runtime, the film does an amazing job of constantly drawing in the audience. The film has a deeply unsettling creep factor, and this is meant as a compliment. Fundamentally, there is something truly disturbing about a kid pulling off murders callously, without remorse, and director Jaume Collet-Serra understands the effects of this premise. With a screenplay loaded with set pieces that maximise the utility of the premise and a director who is effective at crafting horror, the result is a genuinely scary and effective film.

That being said, unfortunately, the film is also riddled with fake scares. You can find in this film almost any cliched scares in horror. The mirror scare, check! The cabinet scare, check! The just-a-dream trope, check! The loud musical sting, check! You name it, it’s got it. For a film packed with disturbing and horrifying scenes, the fake scares are a nuisance and they frustrate more than they add to the fear factor.

The film features one of the best performances in the horror genre, and surprisingly, it is not from Vera Farmiga. Do not get me wrong. Vera Farmiga did a fantastic job, but when it comes to the best performance, I believe there is no question that the then-12-year-old Isabelle Fuhrman blew the rest of the cast out of the water. She is genuinely terrifying in the film, and she tackles the complex character of Esther with such finesse and maturity that many adult actors never manage to achieve.

Needless to say, Orphan is one of the most chilling films I have watched. It has got such great direction, production, and performances that it is undoubtedly a must-watch for horror fans craving creeps and gore.

Author: Chia Jing Heng (andreusjh99)