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Orphan
After losing their baby, a married couple adopt 9-year old Esther, who may not be as innocent as she seems.
2009 · Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra · 123 min · Horror · Thriller · Screenplay in the scene database · 18 frames
Tagline
There's something wrong with Esther.
Plot
In Hamden, Connecticut, Kate and John Coleman's marriage is strained after the stillbirth of their third child, Jessica, whose loss is particularly hard on Kate, a recovering alcoholic. She and John then decide to adopt a 9-year-old Russian girl, Esther, from St. Mariana's Home for Girls, a local orphanage. Their 6-year-old deaf daughter, Max, embraces Esther, but their 12-year-old son, Daniel, is far less welcoming.
One night, Kate and John begin to have sex until Esther interrupts them. Kate becomes suspicious when Esther expresses far more knowledge of sex than expected of a child her age. Esther then exhibits hostile behavior in front of Max and Daniel, such as killing an injured pigeon and breaking the ankle of a bullying classmate named Brenda. Sister Abigail, the head of the orphanage, visits the household, warning Kate and John that tragic events and incidents occur around Esther, including the house fire that killed her previous adoptive family. When Abigail attempts to leave, Esther causes her to crash her car on the road and then bludgeons her to death with a hammer. She forces Max to help her move the body and then hides the evidence in Daniel's treehouse. Daniel sees them at the treehouse, and later that night, Esther interrogates him about what he saw, threatening to castrate him if he tells his parents.
As Kate becomes further convinced about Esther's unusual behavior, John believes she is being paranoid and tells Esther to do something nice for Kate. Esther rips out the flowers from Jessica's grave and gives them to Kate as a bouquet. Kate is horrified and grabs Esther's arm in distress, asserting that she did this on purpose. That night, Esther breaks her own arm with a vice, and falsely blames Kate, causing further strife in Kate and John's marriage. The next day, Esther releases the brake in the car, causing it to roll into oncoming traffic with Max inside. She also points out the wine she found in the kitchen, causing John and Kate's therapist to suggest Kate return to rehab, with John threatening to leave her and take the children if she refuses. Kate discovers that Esther came from a mental hospital named the Saarne Institute, and the orphanage she claims she was from has no record of her.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick
- Cinematography: Jeff Cutter
- Edited by: Timothy Alverson
- Music: John Ottman
- Production design: Tom Meyer
- Produced by: Susan Downey, Richard Mirisch, Ethan Erwin, Stacey Fields
Cast
- Vera Farmiga as Kate
- Peter Sarsgaard as John
- Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther
- CCH Pounder as Sister Abigail
- Jimmy Bennett as Daniel
- Margo Martindale as Dr. Browning
- Karel Roden as Dr. Värava
- Aryana Engineer as Max
- Rosemary Dunsmore as Grandma Barbara
- Jamie Young as Brenda
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English, Estonian
- Studios: Dark Castle Entertainment, Appian Way
- Budget: $20,000,000
- Box office: $77,912,251
- Themes: nun, deaf-mute, orphan, troubled marriage, mischievous child, evil child, aftercreditsstinger, duringcreditsstinger, daddy's girl, psychological
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