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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: October 27, 2009 Distributor: Warner Brothers Director: · Jaume Collet-Serra Cast: · Vera Farmiga · Peter Sarsgaard · Aryana Engineer · Jimmy Bennett · CCH Pounder · Isabelle Fuhrman Related Sites: · IMDb: Orphan Grade: B-

John and Kate are looking to adopt. No, not the TLC couple currently spatting in the news. John (Peter Saarsgard, "Jarhead") and Kate (Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air") are the parents of two children -- Daniel (Jimmy Bennett, "Star Trek") and Max (Aryana Engineer in her debut role) -- but Kate is troubled from the loss of their third, stillborn child. To cover their loss, they make plans to adopt an older child, to replace the one they lost -- definitely not the message to be sent out to audiences, but this couple is messed up so much I'm surprised any agency would let them adopt in the first place.

They visit a Catholic orphange, run by Sister Abigail (CCH Pounder), and meet Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) -- a proper young girl with a penchant for formal dresses and never seen without ribbons around her wrists and throat. She's artistic, well-spoken -- a talented young girl with a tragic past, adopted from Russia by an American family who just died in a house fire that Esther barely escaped.

It doesn't take long for Esther to begin manipulating the family. She threatens Daniel, uses the deaf Max as her unwilling cohort, and embarks on a bloody plan to remove Kate from the family so she can have John all to herself. And if you find that slightly creepy, that's nothing compared to the surprise twist that comes when you learn who Esther truly is.

Unfortunately, director Jaume Collet-Serra ("House of Wax") spends far too much time early in the film with false startles -- sudden reflections, spring-loaded cat moments -- all before the audience ever meets Esther. Whether this is to show us how constantly nervous Kate is (she has a past she's trying to atone for), or if it's just to get some cheap jumps out of the audience so that they don't have to wait too long for the adrenaline kickstarts, I can't say. If you can make it past the first third of the film, that's when you really start to get into the meat of the disturbing plot. All you have to do is accept that nearly everyone in the film who isn't a child is blind to their surroundings and quick to pin everything on Kate's paranoia and previous bout with alcoholism.

The only bonus feature on this release is a small collection of deleted scenes, including an alternate ending that is brief yet differs greatly from the film.

Of note is the prologue to the film: Warner Brothers reminds viewers that this is a fictional movie and that there are many children out there who need adoptive parents, directing us to AdoptUsKids.org in an ad that seems hastily and cheaply made -- apparently to head off the hullabaloo set off from adoptive parents and children who saw early tags and trailers for the theatrical release which included Esther's line to Kate, "How could you love a child that isn't your own?" Believe me, once you've seen what this film is actually about, you'll understand it has nothing to do with adoptive children whatsoever, and everything to do with a horribly crazy person.

Previews on this disc include Batman: Arkham Asylum videogame, "The Hills Run Red," and "The Box."