Orphan

Quite impressive, but at times it’s a mysterious spectacle that is bit too far-fetched, and which, in my opinion, could have had an even worse ending. It is particularly far-fetched in terms of the actions of the parents (or father), the psychologist, the nurse from the orphanage... Essentially, almost everybody except the mother. But the acting of the two central female characters is very good, and the direction, including Ottman's reliable music, is also very good. And it's definitely a bonus that I almost didn't realize that it had a two-hour runtime. (07/02/2014)

I certainly wouldn’t show the brutal beginning to expecting mothers, it was even a bit much for me, but otherwise a superb genre movie. In fact, I even considered giving it a five, but I didn’t find one of the twists at the end convincing (on the other hand it did mean that the always superb Karel Roden made an appearance). But in my opinion... the hammer hit the nail right on the head. :) (20/02/2010)

Such a good idea for a punchline certainly deserves better than this family (non)idyll with a stupidly behaving herd of adults and zero atmosphere. Or if not better, in any case shorter. While the first hour still works great, it gradually starts limping during the last half hour from one dumb cliché to another, in the last ten minutes becoming a parody of all of the worst genre clichés known to man. An unintentional parody, I should add. P.S.: It’s crying out for a Czech remake, we even have a perfect main protagonist (!SPOILER!) already. (11/10/2009)

My goodness, that was quite nerve-wrecking! And it starts so easygoing (if we don’t count the first scene, that is), an idyll with smart little Esther and her likeable parents and siblings; I almost didn’t want to believe anything could go wrong. And it does! In the course of half an hour, Esther turns from a cute girl into the kind of bitch you want to murder with a pickaxe between the eyes, and the psycho-terror begins. Among other things, I liked how the film builds tension – there are several times when the director gives the impression that there’s a about to be jump-scare, a chilling scene or a twist, but he rarely delivers them, which does great service to keeping and increasing the attention of the viewer. For someone like Jaume Collet-Serra, who’s made the average House of Wax, this kind of mature psychological horror is a massive surprise and a great promise for the future. (09/10/2009)

Orphan is a very good film that certainly doesn't do its genre, the thriller, any disgrace. In the beginning, it's a kind of introduction to the characters that moves through a gradually escalating plot to a shocking conclusion. There really is something wrong with Esther, and I'm not at all surprised that the main antagonist looks a lot like the "good girl" from Case 39. It's just a shame that, due to certain circumstances, I was familiar with the twist before seeing the film and therefore followed all the clues that led to the surprising ending. In short, an above-average film that excels technically, in terms of acting (Vera Farmiga, Isabelle Fuhrman) and screenwriting. (23/10/2011)