Orphan (2009 film)

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. The couple decide to adopt a 9-year-old Estonian girl, Esther, from the local orphanage. While their 5-year-old deaf daughter Max embraces Esther almost immediately, their 12-year-old son Daniel acts cold toward her.

One night, after talking of how things have become since Esther came into their lives, John and Kate begin to have intercourse before Esther interrupts them. Kate becomes suspicious when Esther expresses far more knowledge of sex than expected of a child her age, but John theorises she may have learned this from her previous foster parents. Later, Esther demonstrates hostile behavior, killing an injured pigeon and injuring a bullying classmate at the park, furthering Kate's suspicions.

Sister Abigail, the head of the orphanage, visits the household, warning Kate and John of other tragic events surrounding Esther. Later, Esther kills Sister Abigail and pushes her body into a ditch, hiding the evidence in Daniel's treehouse. She catches Daniel spying on her, interrogates him, and threatens to kill him if he tells his parents. As Kate becomes further convinced about Esther's behavior, John suggests that Esther could do something nice for Kate. She intentionally brings her a bouquet of flowers from Jessica's grave, angering Kate who roughly grabs Esther's arm in response. Later that night, Esther purposely breaks her arm and blames Kate, leading to her purchasing two wine bottles. However, she resists drinking and empties one of the bottles. The next day, Esther releases the brake in the car, causing it to roll into oncoming traffic with Max inside. When Esther points out the wine bottle she found in the kitchen, John and Kate's therapist, Dr. Browning, suggest that Kate returns to rehab, as John threatens to divorce her if she refuses. Kate later discovers that Esther came from an Estonian mental hospital and the orphanage Esther claims she was from has no records of her.

When Daniel learns about Sister Abigail's death from Max and searches the treehouse, Esther sets it on fire, causing Daniel to fall and lose consciousness. Esther attempts to kill him, but is prevented by Max. While Daniel is in the hospital, Esther smothers him but he is quickly revived. Kate attacks her, but is physically restrained and sedated. That night, Esther attempts to seduce a drunken John, who threatens to send Esther back to the orphanage for her behavior. At the hospital, Kate is contacted by Dr. Värava of the Saarne Institute, and learns that Esther is actually a 33-year-old woman named Leena Klammer. She has hypopituitarism, a rare hormonal disorder that stunted her physical growth and caused proportional dwarfism, and has spent most of her life posing as a little girl. Leena has murdered at least seven people, including the last family that adopted her after failing to seduce the husband. The ribbons Esther wears around her wrists and neck have been hiding scars from trying to break out of a straitjacket. Meanwhile, Leena removes her disguise and stabs John to death, which Max witnesses. After Kate rushes home, Leena grabs a gun and attempts to shoot Max in the greenhouse, but Kate breaks through the roof and lands on top of her.

As Kate and Max leave and the police arrive, Leena attacks Kate near a frozen pond, knocking the gun away from Kate and hurling them onto the ice. Max tries to shoot Leena but shatters the ice, sending Leena and Kate underwater. Kate climbs out, with Leena clinging to her legs. Leena pleads with Kate to save her while hiding a knife behind her back, before Kate tells Leena that she's not her mother and kicks her, breaking her neck and sending her back into the water.

Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard were cast in main roles in late November 2007.[4][5] Principal photography for the film took place in Canada, in the cities of St. Thomas, Toronto, Port Hope, and Montreal.[4]

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.

The film's content, depicting a murderous adoptee, was not well received by adoption groups.[17] 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."[18]

— 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."[19]

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

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. 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.[20] In October 2020, Julia Stiles said she was about to start working on the film.[21] In November, the title was changed to Orphan: First Kill, with Isabelle Fuhrman returning to star in the film.[22]

• Fictional portrayals of psychopaths
  • The Bad Seed (2018 film)
• List of films featuring the deaf and hard of hearing

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