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Parents' Guide to

Orphan

By James Rocchi, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Bad Seed-style horror movie is gory and ludicrous.

Movie R 2009 123 minutes
Orphan Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 15+

Based on 32 parent reviews

age 16+

Violent and Scary, But good plot overall!

Definitely one of my favorite horror movies of all time. This movie has a very big plot twist near the end which makes it even better. I totally recommend!
age 16+

Very good for people who like psychological horrors

Very well done movie with an amazing plot twist at the end. Unlike others I don’t think there was too much sex, the sex scene added more to the plot twist in terms of understanding her character and motives.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (32 ):
Kids say (166 ):

If Orphan were more exuberant -- a bit more diabolically crazy, a bit more swiftly paced -- it might be fun; as it is, the film bogs down over its two-plus hours. Farmiga and Sarsgaaard are both good -- even if they're forced, by circumstance, to play people far stupider than they are -- but they can't break out of the script's narrow confines. Fuhrman lends a certain chill to Esther's crazier moments, but, at the same time, she's hampered by the story's contortions and weaknesses. Watching Orphan, you can't help but think that what was really needed wasn't an artist's hand on the camera but, rather, an editor's hand applied to the screenplay.

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, ORPHAN is clearly trying to follow in the footsteps of other bad-kid horror/thriller efforts like The Bad Seed and The Good Son. But even with the presence of the always-watchable Farmiga and Sarsgaard, Orphan buckles and breaks under the sheer weight of its own excess, piling ludicrous plot hole upon ludicrous plot hole and excuse upon excuse in the pursuit of thrills, chills, and rough, tough action.

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