Review: An evil saga

Orphan (A)

Cast: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder, Jimmy Bennett

Director: Jaume Collet-Sera

Rating: * * * ½

An evil adopted kid wreaking havoc in the lives of the adopted family is a done-to-death theme. But Jaume Collet-Sera (House of Wax) and screenwriter David Leslie Johnson treats Alex Mace's story with a freshness and ingenuity that is deliciously macabre and eerily gratifying.

The tragic loss of their unborn child has Kate (Vera) and John (Sarsgaard) devastated, taking a toll on their marriage and Kate's fragile psyche. In an attempt to regain some normalcy in their lives, they adopt a Russian girl, Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) whose antecedents are unknown.

The first time you see Esther, she seems extremely needy and heartbreakingly alone, despite the tremendous talent she exhibits. And the distraught couple just want to give her all the pent-up love they couldn't express to their departed child. But Esther comes from a world that is unknown to them and plays them against each other to achieve her own sinister goals.

The film begins in a haze with Kate losing her baby in dramatic eeriness. The tension develops into a taut, highly-strung momentum that is extremely palpable. Collet-Sera effectively uses Jeff Cutter's chilling camerawork, Tom Meyer's creep-enhancing production design, Tim Alverson's sharply focused editing and John Ottman's enticing score to seep the narrative in skin-crawling foreboding.

All the characters are well-developed and there is solid logic backing the flow of events. The story maybe a bit hackneyed and the climax does appear to be far-fetched but if you think hard enough you'll be able to accept it. Orphan takes the genre to a glorious high.