There's something wrong with Esther: Warner Bros. Pictures
Orphan is not the movie you think it is. It is far, far more amazing and insane than that movie!
I know, I know. Due to a massively weak ad campaign, Orphan looks like just another Bad Seed/Good Son pile of hacky Hollywood garbage. And I’m glad! Because when I sat down to watch this movie Tuesday night—snarky, jaded and drunk, as I do—I was able to enjoy the rare pleasure of being knocked COMPLETELY on my ass by a film. Within minutes of the opening credits, I was whispering to my friends, “Guys, this is pretty good, right? I mean … is this actually good? IT IS!”
Well…it’s kind of trashy, okay? But I embrace the trashy. Orphan is like a Lifetime Original Movie with a big budget and a lot of blood. Which is to say, essentially the perfect formula for entertainment.
All of the performances are phenomenal: Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard are exceptionally authentic as a loving married couple, and the two actors who played their kids—particularly Max, the deaf daughter—are just adorbs. But Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther is outrageous! Okay, I know she’s supposed to be the bad guy and all, but can I just say? I am on Team Esther. That chick is STONE COLD AWESOME. She is such a bad-ass! And she’s so smooth and old school, like this tiny little Lionel Luthor, that you can’t help but root for her even though her sole motivation is the ultimate destruction of a nice, attractive family that you actually like.
Orphan is stylish and elegant; the cinematography alone floored me, as this was directed by the guy whose only other films are House of Wax and something called Goal II: Living the Dream.
The movie is terrifically scary and compelling — our audience was completely riveted and silent for over two hours, except for when we’d all break into spontaneous applause when something magnificently cool (and trashy!) would happen.
The best thing about Orphan is how strange and original it is. That’s why I find the ads to be monstrously lame for making the film look so pedestrian and corny. So everyone, watch this movie! We want to reward Hollywood when they give us a mainstream horror film that isn’t really mainstream at all. Orphan is one sneaky broad, and I love her for it!
you read my mind, this looked really stupid! The only thing cool i noticed about the ad campaign was the way they used a mirror image of half her face to make her look eerily symmetrical. so now i'm more likely to netflick this one, thanks!
That little girl is creepy. She doesn't have to say a word. That top picture - she looks like she'd kill you in your sleep.
Going to have to see this one, if only because I had a crazy ex-girlfriend named Esther, so every time I see the tagline ("There's something wrong with Esther"), I shiver and laugh and think "you have no idea."
Except it's a horror movie, so maybe they do!
I was also completely surprised by this movie. Their ad campaign certainly didn't do something right because everytime I try to tell someone about it they reference Bad Seed/Good Son/etc. and how it's just another rip off. And while I'd like a movie like this to do better, in a way it's cooler because I know how good this mainstream film is. It's like watching The Mist and thinking, "How come no one has seen this amazing film?"
gah, Orphan. How come I still can't get it out of my head? It's been a week! A week! Yet I still expect Esther to pop around some corner and creep me out in some awesome way.
I agree with the above comments - the marketing campaign for this movie SUCKS. Did they even watch it? I haven't been this (pleasantly) misled by a film trailer since I thought Phantom of the Opera was actually going to be good. (in my defense, the trailer for PotO WAS awesome. and also didn't feature Emmy Rossum talking.)
Team Esther is the only team to be on! Unless you are on Team Max, because Max is amazing.
Finally - a movie that was actually scary without aliens and apocalyptic annihilations or posing as an "upgraded" version of a previous film.
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