Vera Farmiga didn’t learn her lesson with “Joshua,” did she?
The “Departed” actress is back in another film featuring a child from hell.
This time, the kiddie actually hails from Russia, but people watching “Orphan” can be forgiven for thinking her original address was 666 Incubus Lane.
The new thriller isn’t as hardwired for thrills as “Joshua,” a true sleeper, but it’s a slick genre exercise until its nonsensical twist stops the film cold.
Kate (Farmiga) recently lost a child in the final stages of labor. Now, she and her husband, John (Peter Sarsgaard) want to adopt one to pair up with their two other children.
Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) seems an ideal choice to round out the family. She’s wiser than her years, unfailingly polite and needs a new home – badly. She’s also a little lonely, which makes the couple all the more eager to embrace her as their own.
But Esther starts making trouble soon enough, coaxing her new brother into mischief before making her new sister witness a horrible act.
Director Jaume Collet-Serra, who managed to make the quickie remake “House of Wax” tolerable, shows a shrewd ability to milk tension from even the most hackneyed moments.
Sure, he falls for a few too many cheap scare tactics, but he keeps several paces ahead of the flaccid script until we find out what’s making Esther so … mischievous.
Few directors could undo the damage wrought by the “shock” reveal, an ending that might have worked with a far smarter script to set up the sucker punch.
The acting is top notch, making hard to swallow plot turns and character choices seem nearly organic. And boy, did they hit the jackpot with Fuhrman, who casts every scene she’s in with a long, inky shadow.
The film would simply collapse without her.
“Orphan” remains a predictable horror tale, one told with just enough finesse to apologize for its sundry sins.
(Photo: Isabelle Fuhrman and Vera Farmiga – in background – play the latest variation on the “Bad Seed” theme in “Orphan,” now available on DVD/Warner Home Video)
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
All I could think when I saw the preview was “Vera Farmiga’s doing another killer child movie?” I’ve heard enough about this one that I’m curious.
Most critics slammed “Orphan,” James, but it kept my attention until the silly ending. At this point a well crafted horror movie, even if it flies off the rails at some point, is about the best horror junkies can hope for …