Orphan is a 2009 psychological horror film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by David Leslie Johnson from a story by Alex Mace. The film stars Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder and Jimmy Bennett. The plot centers on a couple who, after the death of their unborn child, adopt a psychopathic nine-year-old girl with a mysterious past.

The film is an international co-production between the United States, Canada, Germany and France. It was produced by Joel Silver and Susan Downey of Dark Castle Entertainment, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran of Appian Way Productions. Principal photography for the film took place in Canada, in the cities of St. Thomas, Toronto, Port Hope, and Montreal.

Orphan was released in the United States on July 24, 2009, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its dark humor, scares and Fuhrman s performance as Esther, but criticized its formulaic screenplay, uneven pacing and two-hour runtime. The film grossed $78.8 million worldwide against a $20 million budget. A prequel, titled Orphan: First Kill, was released in 2022, with Fuhrman reprising her role.

Plot

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 decide to adopt a 9-year-old Russian girl, Esther, from St. Mariana s Home for Girls, a local orphanage. Their 5-year-old deaf daughter, Max, embraces Esther, but their 12-year-old son, Daniel, is 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 badly injuring a classmate who was bullying her. 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 birth family. When Sister Abigail leaves, 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, she interrogates him about what he saw, threatening to castrate him if he tells Kate and John.

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 roughly grabs Esther s arm in distress, asserting that she did this on purpose. That night, Esther breaks her own arm 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 an Estonian mental hospital named the Saarne Institute, and the orphanage she claims she was from has no record of her.

When Daniel learns about Sister Abigail s death from Max and searches the treehouse, Esther sets it on fire and attempts to kill him but is thwarted by Max. Daniel is seriously injured, and while in the hospital in ICU, Esther tries to smother him to death with a pillow, but doctors revive him. Kate, enraged, slaps Esther before she is restrained and sedated. That night, Esther dresses provocatively and attempts to seduce John, who threatens to send Esther back to the orphanage after realizing Kate had been right about Esther s behavior.

At the hospital, Kate is contacted by Dr. Värava of the Saarne Instituute and learns that Esther is actually a 33-year-old woman named Leena Klammer, born in Estonia. She has hypopituitarism, a rare hormonal disorder that stunted her physical growth and caused proportional dwarfism, and she has spent most of her life posing as a little girl. Leena is violent and has murdered at least seven people. The ribbons she wears around her neck and wrists conceal the livid scars she received from trying to break out of straitjackets during her time at the asylum. After failing to seduce John, Leena removes her disguise and trashes her room in a fury, then stabs him to death.

Kate rushes home, and Leena attempts to shoot her, wounding her arm. After Leena opens fire on Max, Kate breaks through the greenhouse roof and knocks Leena unconscious. Kate and Max flee as police arrive, but Leena attacks Kate near the frozen pond, hurling them onto the ice. Max tries to shoot Leena but shatters the ice instead, sending Leena and Kate underwater. Kate begins to climb out, with Leena clinging to her legs. Leena reverts to her Esther persona, begging Mommy not to let her die, while hiding a knife behind her back. Kate retorts angrily that she is not Leena s mother and kicks her in the face, breaking her neck. Leena s body sinks into the dark pond as Kate and Max are met by the police.

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. Varava
• Aryana Engineer as Max
• Rosemary Dunsmore as Grandma Barbara
• Genelle Williams as Sister Judith
• Lorry Ayers as Joyce
• Brendan Wall as Detective
• Jamie Young as Brenda

Production

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Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard were cast in main roles in late November 2007. Principal photography for the film took place in Canada, in the cities of St. Thomas, Toronto, Port Hope, and Montreal.

Esther of Estonia was inspired by the May 2007 media coverage of 34-year-old Barbora Skrlová, an orphan who abused her first adoptive family and ran away from the police when caught. She eventually was found impersonating Adam, a thirteen-year-old boy who had gone missing.

Release

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Theatrical

Orphan had its world premiere in Westwood, Los Angeles on July 21, 2009. The following day, it screened at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada. The film was released theatrically in North America on July 24, 2009. It was then released in the United Kingdom on August 7, 2009, by Optimum Releasing.

Home media

Orphan was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 27, 2009, in the United States by Warner Home Video and in the United Kingdom on November 27, 2009, by Optimum Releasing. The DVD includes deleted scenes, and the alternate ending. The opening previews also contain a public service announcement describing the plight of unadopted children in the United States and encouraging domestic adoption.

Reception

Box office

The film opened in the 4th spot at the box office, making a total of $12.8 million, behind G-Force, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and The Ugly Truth. The film went on to gross a worldwide total of $78.3 million.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 58% based on 161 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60/10. The website s critics consensus read, While it has moments of dark humor and the requisite scares, Orphan fails to build on its interesting premise and degenerates into a formulaic, sleazy horror/thriller. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B− on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave Orphan 31⁄2 stars out of 4, writing: After seeing Orphan, I now realize that Damien of The Omen was a model child. The Demon Seed was a bumper crop. Rosemary would have been happy to have this baby. Here is a shamelessly effective horror film based on the most diabolical of movie malefactors, a child. You want a good horror film about a child from hell, you got one. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle also gave a positive review, commenting: Orphan provides everything you might expect in a psycho-child thriller, but with such excess and exuberance that it still has the power to surprise. Todd McCarthy of Variety was less impressed, writing: Teasingly enjoyable rubbish through the first hour, Orphan becomes genuine trash during its protracted second half.

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote: Actors have to eat like the rest of us, if evidently not as much, but you still have to wonder how the independent film mainstays Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard ended up wading through Orphan and, for the most part, not laughing. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a D+ score, noting: Orphan isn t scary – it s garish and plodding. Keith Phipps from The A.V. Club wrote: If director Jaume Collet-Serra set out to make a parody of horror film clichés, he succeeded brilliantly.

Accolades

This film won the International Feature Length Competition Golden Raven at the 2010 Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. It was also nominated Choice Summer Movie: Drama at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards.

Controversy

The film s content, depicting a murderous adoptee, was not well received by adoption groups. The controversy caused filmmakers to change a line in one of their trailers from:

It must be difficult to love an adopted child as much as your own, to I don t think Mommy likes me very much. — Esther

Melissa Fay Greene of The Daily Beast commented:

The movie Orphan comes directly from this unexamined place in popular culture. Esther s shadowy past includes Eastern Europe; she appears normal and sweet, but quickly turns violent and cruel, especially toward her mother. These are clichés. This is the baggage with which we saddle abandoned, orphaned, or disabled children given a fresh start at family life.

There is a pro-adoption service message on the DVD, advising viewers to consider adoption.

Prequel

In February 2020, development of a prequel film was announced, titled Esther, with William Brent Bell signed on as director from a script by David Coggeshall. The project will be a joint-venture between eOne and Dark Castle Entertainment and will be distributed by Paramount Pictures under its Players division. Alex Mace, Hal Sadoff, Ethan Erwin and James Tomlinson will produce the film, with David Leslie Johnson as an executive producer. Production was set to begin summer 2020. In October 2020, Julia Stiles said she was about to start working on the film. In November, the title was changed to Orphan: First Kill, with Isabelle Fuhrman returning to star in the film. The film was released on August 19, 2022.

Year	2009
ReleaseDate	2009-07-24
RuntimeMins	123
RuntimeStr	2h 3min
Plot	A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she appears.
Awards	Awards, 1 win & 7 nominations
Directors	Jaume Collet-Serra
Writers	David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Alex Mace
Stars	Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman
Produced by	Aaron Auch, David Barrett, Don Carmody, Jennifer Davisson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Susan Downey, Ethan Erwin, Stacey Fields, Christoph Fisser, Michael Ireland, Sarah Meyer, Richard Mirisch, Henning Molfenter, Erik Olsen, Steve Richards, Joel Silver, Charlie Woebcken
Music by	John Ottman
Cinematography by	Jeff Cutter
Editing by	Timothy Alverson
Casting By	Ronnie Yeskel
Production Design by	Tom Meyer
Art Direction by	Patrick Banister, Pierre Perrault
Set Decoration by	Daniel Hamelin, Martine Kazemirchuk, David Laramy, Carolyn Cal Loucks
Costume Design by	Antoinette Messam
Makeup Department	Katie Brennan, Annick Chartier, Corald Giroux, Stephanie Ingram, Sophie Labrecque, Gaétan Landry, Mélanie Lavoie, Fanny Vachon
Production Management	David Beauchemin, Chantal Desgagné, Ronald Gilbert, Hartley Gorenstein, Gilles Perreault
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Javier Aguilera, Erik Ajduk, David Barrett, Marielou Bélisle-Pierre, Johanne Caporicci, Robert Ditchburn, Martin Doepner, Jean-François Duplat, Angèle Gagnon, Pedro Gandol, Catherine Gourdier, Matthew Jemus, Carl Kouri, Jacinthe Noreau, Michael Peleshok, Tanya van Blokland, Michael A. Williams, Greg Zenon
Art Department	Alec Anderson, Jean-Marc André, Carole Arpin, Marc Bacon, Pete Baillie, Amy Bell, Deryck Blake, Marie-Claude Bolduc, Robert Bourdeau, Rejean Brochu, Real Capuano, Antoine Connoly, Robert Craig, Isabelle Côté, Yan-Frédéric D Amour, Lisa Dietrich, Yann Dupond-Cubaynes, Peter Dwyer, Marie-Soleil Dénommé, Dawn H. Fisher, Martin Gagné, Odette Gauvreau, Sébastien Gervais, Alain Giguère, Vincent Gingras-Liberali, Sylvain Grenier, Victoria Hamilton, Jose Holder, Paul Hotte, Luc Houle, Viorel Indres, Geof Isherwood, Martine Kazemirchuk, Dylan La Frenière, Michele Laliberte, Hans Laliberté, Céline Lampron, Félix Larivière-Charron, Raymond Larose, Aleksandra Marinkovich, Félix Matte, Rob McCallum, Stephan McKenzie, Darcy McLeod, Jeffrey A. Melvin, John Moran, Xavier Nolet, Donal O Donaghue, Roy Obermeier, Roger Paquin, Jim Peters, Véronique Piché, Ludovic Poirot, Doris Simard, Douglas Slater, Jocelyne St-Pierre, André Valade, Donald Vandewater, Jose Fernando Varela, Bernadette Warren, Toni Wong, Alain Brochu, David DeMarinis, W.D. Hogan, Marc Leger, Jesse Mann, Jean-François Merlot, Jeremy Simser
Sound Department	Christopher Alba, Nancy Barker, Ron Bartlett, Jean-Philippe Bérubé, Gregory Martin Clayton, Zack Davis, Bill R. Dean, Arnaud Derimay, Julie Feiner, Maxime Ferland, Stephanie Flack, Eric Flickinger, Doug Hemphill, Frederick Howard, Zach Hunter, Matthew W. Kielkopf, Mary Jo Lang, Alyson Dee Moore, Tom Ozanich, John Roesch, Patrick Rousseau, Mike Szakmeister, David A. Whittaker, Drew Yerys, Rich Crescenti, Mark DeSimone, Marla McGuire
Special Effects by	Andy Antoine, Dana Campbell, Ryal Cosgrove, Mike Cozens, C.J. Goldman, Paul Jones, Tony Kenny, Rob Langshaw, Andy Latimer, Jonathan Lavallée, Mark Lawton, Dave Pollak, James Poulin, Alain Rouillier, George Tucci, Sophie Vertigan, Barry Watkins, Tim Winchester, Brendan Carmody, Mike Kavanagh, Marc Reichel
Visual Effects by	Casey Allen, Spencer Armajo, Marc Aubry, Jarrod Avalos, Eran Barnea, Michel Barrière, Terry Bates, Travis Baumann, Olivier Beaulieu, Michaël Bentitou, Didier Bertrand, Pierre Blain, Raphaele Blanchard, Guy Botham, Kevin R. Browne, Kirk Cadrette, Trent Claus, Andrew M. Collins, Glenn Cote, Christopher Custodio, Christophe Damiano, Thierry Delattre, Nigel Denton-Howes, Anouk Deveault-Moreau, Lafleche Dumais, Mathieu Dupuis, Hanoz Elavia, Emily Fenster, Brian Fisher, Jean-Pierre Flayeux, Mark Freund, Steve Garrad, Yanick Gaudreau, David Geoghegan, Myléne Guérin, Robin Hackl, Maureen Healy, Tulio Hernandez, Nadine Homier, Jean-Francois Houde, Chris Ingersoll, Joseph Kasparian, Patrick Keenan, Anne Kim, Louis Kim, Cristian A. Kong, Marios Kourasis, Daniel Kruse, George Kyparissous, Anouk L Heureux, Alain Lacroix, Tom Lamb, Vassilios Lanaris, Miles Lauridsen, Evelyne Leblond, Kim LeBrane, Daniel Leduc, Francois Leduc, Danny Levesque, Alex Llewellyn, Martine Losier, Jocelyn Maher, Tom Mangat, Richard Martin, Elizabeth Matthews, Frederic Medioni, Francois Metivier, Francisco Moncayo Moreno, Christian Morin, Josh Mossotti, Martin Mousseau, Peter Muyzers, Thomas Nittmann, Nicolas-Alexandre Noel, Brian Nugent, Robert Olsson, Sona Pak, Clark Parkhurst, Steve Pelchat, Eric Pender, Pierre Raymond, Sébastien Rioux, Karl Rogovin, Jaqgravan Sananikone, Katy Savoie, Joao Sita, Nathan Srigley, Guillaume St-Aubin-Seers, Jeremiah Sweeney, Philippe Theroux, Gaetan Thiffault, Marco Tremblay, Yves Tremblay, Raphael Valle, Marvin Vasquez, Celine Velasco, Shawn Walsh, Bob Wiatr, Edson Williams, Keith Wilson, Nick Xiao, Kazuyoshi Yamagiwa, Richard Yuricich, Hubert Zapalowicz, Ryan Zuttermeister, Sebastien Betsch, Leslie Chung, Daniel Elophe, Lori Freitag-Hild, Brandon McNaughton, Matthew Merkovich, Alejandro Monzon, Sebastien Proulx, Ryan Robertson, Simon J.H. Smith
Stunts	Kelli Barksdale, Brad Bennett, Alexandre Cadieux, Chad Camilleri, Mike Chute, Dean Copkov, Alex Daniels, Jennifer Dzialoszynski, Tig Fong, Jean Frenette, Naomi Frenette, Mathilde Gingras, Tyler Hall, Brian Jagersky, Jamie Jones, Kevin Kelsall, Patrick Kerton, Vanessa King, Héléna Laliberté, Naomie Leduc, Stéphane Lefebvre, Angelica Lisk-Hann, Steve Lucescu, Shaun Magee, Christopher McGuire, David McKeown, Edward A. Queffelec, Kevin Rushton, Tyler Rushton, Michael Scherer, Shayna Segal, Jamie James Yungblut, Brendan Carmody, Angelica Lisk-Hann
Camera and Electrical Department	Robert B. Baylis, Mark Beauchamp, Geoffroy Beauchemin, Patrick Beaulac, Charles Beetz, Jean-Philippe Bernier, Michel Bernier, Ann Berrie, Dane Bjerno, Martin Boiteau, Sam Bojin, Michel Bolduc, Richard Boucher, Dave Bouskill, Marcelo Caceres, Thomas Care, Frédéric Chabot, Frédéric Chamberland, Mathieu Charest, Marc Charlebois, François Daignault, Pete Daprato, Gyorgy Darvas, Pierre Daudelin, Audrey David, David Desgroseillers, Amelie Duceppe, Sylvaine Dufaux, Sylvain Dupuis, Bryan Forde, Eames Gagnon, Joël Gariépy, Michel Girard, Stéphanie Girard-Hamelin, Rémi Giroux, Vincent Gouin, Laurent Alexis Guertin, Robert Guertin, Olivier Hetu, John Holosko, Pierre Jodoin, Soupharak Keoborakoth, Patrick King, Andre-Pierre Lampron, Robert Lapierre Jr., Odrée Lapointe, Patrice Lapointe, Bernard Larivière, Andrew Learmonth, Martine Leclerc, John Lewin, Kenneth MacKenzie, Brad MacLean, Peter Mathys, David McKane, Joseph Micomonaco, Daniel Moise, Monty Montgomerie, Eric Morin, Marie-Andrée Paquet, Derek Parkes, Ivan Peloquin, Stéphane Pilon, Martin Protat, Rafy, Serge Raymond, Nic René, Daniel Robidoux, Brent Robinson, Alain Rousseau, Jeff Scott, Geoffroy St-Hilaire, Robert Stecko, Benoît Sévigny, Sophie Tessier, Jan Thijs, André Tisseur, Marco Venditto, Sarah Warland, Stephen Wells, Bogdan Zinko, Geoffroy Beauchemin, Jean-François Dasylva-LaRue, Ian C. Harris, Rhyce Langker
Casting Department	Julie Breton, Tina Gerussi, Andrea Kenyon, Justin Kiang, Chuck McCollum, Shawn Roberts, Jane Rogers, Randi Wells
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Dorothy Crutcher, Wayne Godfrey, Mathilde Lemaire-Barrette, Marie-France Pierre, Lyse Pomerleau, Sheila E. Pruden, Madeleine Tremblay, Karen Eppstadt
Editorial Department	Cindy Bond, Travis Flynn, Maxine Gervais, Terel Gibson, Christopher Hills-Wright, Alicia Johnson, David Kennedy, Ladd Lanford, Lisa Markou, Jon Gordon McKenzie, Aidan Stanford, Jesse Wagler, Michael Dobroski, Bill Holley
Location Management	Drazen Baric, Josée Francis, Benoît Mathieu, Jonathan Matthews, John Rakich, Linda Torino Tondreau, Tracey Savein
Music Department	Christine Bergren, Joseph Bonn, Normand Corbeil, Amanda Goodpaster, Bruce Harvey, Sam Hofstedt, Larry Mah, John Ottman, Reuben Panini, Robert Puff, Reed Ruddy, David Sabee, Brian Valentino, Carter Armstrong, Kristopher Gee, Evan Monheit, Nick Murray, Jeffrey Schindler, Derek Somaru
Script and Continuity Department	Eric Brulotte, Isabelle Faivre-Duboz, Susan Marucci
Transportation Department	John Bober, Pierre Olivier Chénard, Réal Hamel, Scott Magee, Daniel Matthews, Frank Mizzi, Martin Pilote, Pablo Reinoso, Tanya Russell, Raymond Salvas, Tania Veri, Robert White, Ian C. Harris, Carl Severin, Spiro Tsovras, Jerome Wheeler
Additional Crew	Eric Armstrong, Angelica Bailey, Paul Barette, Stephen Bender, Melanie Bergeron, François Bernier, Cynthia Bibeau, Brenda Campbell, Brendan Carmody, Roland Chaput, Sylvain Chaput, Patrick Chevrier, Nickey Chow, Fraser Collins, Martine Curly Salvas, Tom Di Blasio, Jessica Drake, Karine Duquette, Andrea Eisen, Laura Erikson, Joe Everett, Jean-Philippe Gagnon, Melissa Girotti, Jean Olivier Beaucage Gobeil, Jann Goldsby, Marc-André Goyer, Françoise Gravelle, Tommy Guenette, Rhoda Habert, Ian Howes, Joshua Hummel, Joe Iacono, Ryan Keaveney, Adam Kuhn, Caroline Lalande, Patrick Lamarre, Martine Lapointe, Lara Khajetoorians Larkin, Kim Lavallée, Gabriel Lavina, Anie Leblanc, Marie-Laure Lemaire Viens, Ronald J. Levin, Stanley Lilavois, Hugo Longtin, Jean Marchand, Mark Mcdonald, Tarren Mckay, Ashleigh Millar, Gilles Montreuil, Hélène Muller, Jillian Ordowich, Ortensia Palmerino, Éric Payette, Étienne Poulin, Alexandre Prefontaine, Paulo Quintans, Jeffrey Raines, Lara Roth, Yanie Salvas, Jeannine Sharp, Robert Specland, Kathy Ann Thomas, Dave Tommasini, Phillip Watson, Mark Weinberg, Kyle Cooper, Vladimir Fuentes, John Malakoff, Jonathan Poots, Ryan Robertson
Genres	Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Companies	Dark Castle Entertainment, Appian Way, Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures
Countries	USA, Canada, Germany, France
Languages	English, American Sign Language, Estonian
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	7
ImDbRatingVotes	239519
MetacriticRating	42
Keywords	orphan,adoptive father adopted daughter relationship,winter time,deception,serial murder