OrphanMovie Reviews

Poster art for the "Orphan."

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Avg. Critic Score: 42 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    You want a good horror film about a child from hell, you got one. Do not, under any circumstances, take children to see it. Take my word on this. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    A two-hour nervous breakdown. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    Furhman plays pure evil with such supreme calmness that only her eyes shine with madness. Indeed, all of the child actors are superb, especially the expressive Engineer. Read full review

  • 63
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    The best part of Orphan is the outstandingly lunatic plot twist that kicks in just as you're checking your watch and hoping they'll wrap things up. This development - I'd love to tell you, but you wouldn't believe me - boosts the movie into overdrive for a final 20 minutes of happy, disreputable mayhem. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    It's a cut above most spooky-kid movies, with a twist that sets it apart. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times |

    Clocking in at more than two hours, the movie teeters between psychological horror and violent blood-letting and, as such, probably won't completely satisfy fans in either camp. Read full review

  • 40
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    Teasingly enjoyable rubbish through the first hour, Orphan becomes genuine trash during its protracted second half. Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    There's something creepy, and not pleasurably so, about watching children pantomime so much malice and fear. Read full review

  • 33
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Orphan isn't scary -- it's garish and plodding. Read full review

  • 0
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    Depraved, worthless piece of filth. Read full review

View more reviews for Orphan on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Bad Seed-style horror movie is gory and ludicrous.
What Parents Need to Know   Parents need to know that this is a review of the movie shown in theaters and not the unrated version with an alternate ending available on DVD. Parents also need to know that this gory horror movie centers on extremely violent, sexual acts carried out by a 9-year-old girl. While the film's ultimate twist negates some of the queasy, sleazy feeling that comes from watching this kind of material, the bulk of the movie revolves around the shock value of seeing a child doing horrible things. Plus, there's lots of swearing (including "f--k" and "s--t"), as well as smoking, drinking, and sexual scenes between adults.
  • Families can talk about the movie's violence. Is it more or less realistic than what you've seen in other thrillers/horror movies? How does that affect its impact?
  • How do you feel about the fact that a child is the one committing the movie's most horrible acts? 
  • Does the movie's twist let the filmmakers off the hook for some of the more extreme moments?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The film's serious take on themes of adoption and loss are wholly undermined by the "killer child" plot; the film gives itself an out (in a twist too ludicrous to reveal), but much of it trades on a creepy, "taboo" images and concepts involving the 9-year-old at center of the action.
  • rolemodels true0 Positive role models: While the main characters' desire to adopt in the wake of a miscarriage at first presents a model of compassion and love, the film's gory, horrific violence soon wipes it away with a red tide of blood. Esther, the child they adopt, is pure evil, with no redeeming characteristics.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Extreme violence, much of it involving children. A young girl hurls a peer out of a play set, smothers another child to death, and points a loaded gun point blank at a third. She also kills adults via hammer beating, stabbing, and shooting. Perils include fire, vehicular endangerment, crashing through a frozen pond, fistfights, and more. A character is kicked in the head, hard, and the shot lingers on his/her breaking neck. Discussions of beatings and murders. Extensive blood, including violent surgical imagery. A character breaks his/her own arm to feign abuse.
  • sex false4 Sex: A young child dresses and acts in a deliberately sexual, provocative manner, although her advances are rebuffed. A married couple engages in sexual acts in bed and in the kitchen; adults are seen stripped down to their underwear. A group of pre-teen boys looks at a pornographic magazine (nudity is shown). Sex is discussed with a younger child.
  • language false4 Language: Extensive strong language, including "f--k," "s--t," "bitch," "prick," "crap," "a--hole," "oh my God," and more. "Retard" is frequently used as an epithet, and "Jesus freak" is used once.
  • consumerism false2 Consumerism: Characters play the video game Guitar Hero; other brands shown on screen include Perfect Ten magazine and Lexus.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Extensive discussion of how one main character has had a problematic relationship with alcohol in the past, plus depictions of her being tempted to drink again. Another main character smokes cigarettes and gets drunk drinking an entire bottle of wine; viewers see some events from his woozy, boozy perspective.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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