Do you want to see ‘Orphan’?

Orphan (2009)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 5.5/10
Reviews Counted: 144
Fresh: 80 | Rotten: 64

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.

Average Rating: 5.1/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 17

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.

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 830,958

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

An outwardly angelic little girl displays an unforeseen devilish streak upon moving into the home of her new adoptive parents in this shocker starring Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga. In the aftermath of a miscarriage, prospective parents Kate (Farmiga) and John (Sarsgaard) find their lives turned upside down; their marriage is falling apart, and the demons of Kate's past begin manifesting themselves in a series of horrifying nightmares. Deciding that the best means of achieving some semblance

R, 2 hr. 3 min.

Drama, Horror, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Jaume Collet-Serra

Written By: David Leslie Johnson

In Theaters: Jul 24, 2009 Wide

On DVD: Oct 27, 2009

Box Office:$41.5M

Warner Bros. Pictures

Orphan Trailer & Photos

More Photos (26)

Cast

Peter Sarsgaard
John Coleman
Vera Farmiga
Kate Coleman
Isabelle Fuhrman
Esther
CCH Pounder
Sister Abigail
Jimmy Bennett
Daniel Coleman
Aryana Engineer
Max Coleman
Margo Martindale
Dr. Browning
Karel Roden
Dr. Varava
Rosemary Dunsmore
Grandma Barbara
Jamie Young
Brenda
Lorry Ayers
Joyce
Brendan Wall
Detective
Genelle Williams
Sister Judith
Mustafa Abdelkarim
Daniel's Friend
Landon Norris
Daniel's Friend
Julien Elia
Hospital Receptionist
Leni Parker
Delivery Room Nurse

Critic Reviews for Orphan

All Critics (144) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (84) | Rotten (68) | DVD (16)

Decidedly amoral.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Village Voice

| Comment

Chuck Wilson

Village Voice

Top Critic

Director Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax) endows this ugly mess with a slew of unintentional laughs, but not enough to repay the 123-minute time suck.

August 20, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment (1)

Cliff Doerksen

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

It would be harder to find a more dark and joyless thriller on the market than this one.

July 29, 2009 Full Review Source: ReelViews

| Comment

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Top Critic

It's bloody, you should be warned, but in the end it is worth it.

July 27, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies

| Comment

Ben Mankiewicz

At the Movies

Top Critic

Painfully predictable.

July 27, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies

| Comments (16)

Ben Lyons

At the Movies

Top Critic

There's a surprise ending, followed by several bonus endings, and we're not giving anything away in noting that the film's titular adoptee has more lives than Chucky.

July 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune

| Comment

Michael Phillips

Chicago Tribune

Top Critic

Weak adult characters and lame ending aside, Orphan succeeds more often than not, mainly thanks to Fuhrman's performance and Collet-Serra's direction. It's not a fantastic thriller but it's not bad and often far better than it probably should be.

April 25, 2011 Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net

| Comment (1)

Joshua Starnes

ComingSoon.net

If we could all stop for a moment and think about how excellent and uplifting garbage can be, America would rally around this movie like the treasure it is.

April 4, 2011 Full Review Source: Movies.com

| Comment

Dave White

Movies.com

The movie is, as these things go, enjoyably trashy.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: NPR.org

| Comment

Nathan Lee

NPR.org

Collet-Serra's film is a mixture of old school sub-genre devices that we've seen before again and again while also managing to deliver on good performances and a twist ending that you really won't see coming.

December 10, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed

| Comment

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

As interesting as Collet-Serra's story is, there's simply nothing here that you won't find in other better evil children films in the library...

December 4, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed

| Comment

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

Alas, in the end, it's not nasty enough.

December 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central

| Comment

Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

[Blu-Ray Review] Orphan is a very decent movie in it's own right, apart from being a tense, eerie little horror film specifically. It doesn't fail to entertain.

November 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Dread Central

| Comment

Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton

Dread Central

The only thing mysterious about Orphan is why Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard signed on to such an idiotic mess.

October 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comments (2)

Matt Noller

Slant Magazine

Bad Seed-style horror movie is gory and ludicrous.

October 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

James Rocchi

Common Sense Media

The Cold War may be over for almost two decades now, but Hollywood still can't resist having a Russian villain yet again in Orphan!

October 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Sci-Fi Movie Page

| Comment (1)

James O'Ehley

Sci-Fi Movie Page Source: Sci-Fi Movie Page

Orphan is not very good. At 90 minutes, it might have been amazing. At nearly two hours, it's tedious.

October 25, 2009 Full Review Source: PopMatters

| Comments (2)

Bill Gibron

PopMatters

This is the rare fright flick that is actually grounded in some genuine human emotion.

October 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Aisle Seat

| Comment (1)

Mike McGranaghan

Aisle Seat

...the characters must be among the dumbest people ever to grace a movie screen. (Blu-ray Edition)

October 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

For the most part, Esther is an entertaining and solid addition to the Evil Child canon.

October 22, 2009 Full Review Source: Film Threat

| Comment

Jessica Baxter

Film Threat

...more concerned with producing cheap thrills and melodramatic effects than creating any sense of mystery or suspense.

October 20, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment (1)

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

Nerve-shredding creepy kid home invasion alert, and takeout foundling traumas galore. Along with magnanimous curtsies, excessive doting on dad, stalking parental kitchen sex and, well, a tendency to bludgeon living things.

October 8, 2009 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze

| Comment

Prairie Miller

NewsBlaze

David Johnson's script plays fair with red herrings before a devilish denouement with all the torque of a good twist. Esther doesn't just want to topple the Colemans' house of cards. She wants to torch it, and "Orphan" is gruesome, gripping material.

September 19, 2009 Full Review Source: Suite101.com

| Comment

Nick Rogers

Suite101.com

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Orphan

View All

Pretty good movie, I liked it and enjoyed it. However, I hated the main character so much it really kept me from really liking it...however that might have been the point. Overall I'd say it's worth a see!

September 30, 2011

Jameson Worley

Super Reviewer

What I didn't enjoy about the film mostly was I didn't think Esther was very intimidating. The plot was really simple, we adopt a kid and now she wants to kill us. One pro to the movie was Vera Forminga's character, she was very believable and cool. What i want in a horror movie is an ending to scar tehe living SHIT

March 26, 2011

Brad Wright

Super Reviewer

Orphan Quotes

View All

1. Esther: I know. They fuck.
– Submitted by April W (3 months ago)
1. Esther: Please, don't let me die, Mommy.
2. Kate Coleman: I'm not your fucking mommy!
– Submitted by Mike Y (8 months ago)
1. Esther: I think people should always try to take the bad things that happen to them in their lives, and turn them into something good. Don't you?
– Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)
1. Esther: if you tell anyone what you saw i cut your hair less pecker off, understand
2. Daniel Coleman: hmm
– Submitted by Seth S (10 months ago)