An action-packed slog

An absolute waste of money

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

I've just watched 'Orphan' for the fourth time and, as usual, I'm left pretty speechless at the performance the titular 'orphan' Esther (played by the extraordinarily-capable Isabelle Fuhrman). It's one thing to cast kids in a movie FOR kids. Children don't really pay much attention to 'acting ability' and it's up to the adults in the cinema audience to cringe and roll their eyes at what they're forced to watch. However, so many times when child actors are used in a film for an older audience, they can quite often bring down an otherwise good film. I'm so glad to say that the reverse happened here.A brief summary of the plot would be that a family (mother and father played respectively by Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard) adopt a child to add to their existing two children. The girl in question is - you guessed it - Esther and, it's fair to say that they get more than they bargained for.I didn't know anything about this film before I sat down to watch and I definitely recommend you know as little as possible before seeing it. The marketing surrounding it kind of makes it look like a horror film, but, trust me, it's nothing like your standard 'hack 'n slash' affair (it's much better than that!).Maybe it was destined to be average, but Isabelle Fuhrman just elevates it to exceptional levels. I almost found it quite difficult to believe that a child could pull off such a part. It's worth watching for her alone.If you like horror/thriller films in general, you should definitely check this out. Just don't find out too much before hand.

A bit comedic at the start, it goes into serial killer territory relatively quickly. Good new spin about a lethal gir...oh, little girl I mean. Not all that formulaic but it could have been better, and it will surely now that girls are the heroes.

A very good horror movie with a complex story and not only Esther little secret. This is the type of movie that can glue you to the tv and have no jumpscares. However and maybe because I've seen a lot of horror movies, most of Esther's move are predictible (not the final one... this one is just mindblowing). Unfortunatly, the ending is just like other average horror films... I think it deserves a better ending rather than just a death pursuit. Besides, I recomend watching this movie because of the story and all of the characters.

After watching this movie I'm little bit disappointed. It is unfortunate that you can basically categorized this movie by simple horror check list: basic horror movie jump scare sounds? check! Simple back story to main protagonist to show that she can make certain decision? check! Some kind of rare disease, disorder, virus etc etc.? Check! You can see lately or for big chunk of the time horror films do these things.I was really hoping for something unique but still, this movie isn't quite bad really. For some reason also at some points I could relate to the main villain even the action she makes involving killing people.