Orphan
There's something wrong with Esther.
2009 | 122m | English
Popularity: 11 (history)
| Director: | Jaume Collet-Serra |
|---|---|
| Writer: | David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Alex Mace |
| Staring: |
| After losing their baby, a married couple adopt 9-year old Esther, who may not be as innocent as she seems. | |
| Release Date: | Jul 24, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Jaume Collet-Serra |
| Writer: | David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Alex Mace |
| Genres: | Horror, Thriller |
| Keywords | nun, deaf-mute, orphan, troubled marriage, aftercreditsstinger, duringcreditsstinger, wonder |
| Production Companies | Appian Way, Dark Castle Entertainment |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $77,912,251
Budget: $20,000,000 |
| Updates |
Updated: Oct 01, 2025 Entered: Apr 13, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Vera Farmiga | Kate |
| Peter Sarsgaard | John |
| Isabelle Fuhrman | Esther |
| CCH Pounder | Sister Abigail |
| Jimmy Bennett | Daniel |
| Margo Martindale | Dr. Browning |
| Karel Roden | Dr. Värava |
| Aryana Engineer | Max |
| Rosemary Dunsmore | Grandma Barbara |
| Jamie Young | Brenda |
| Lorry Ayers | Joyce |
| Brendan Wall | Detective |
| Genelle Williams | Sister Judith |
| Mustafa Abdelkarim | Daniel's Friend |
| Landon Norris | Daniel's Friend |
| Julien Elia | Hospital Receptionist |
| Leni Parker | Delivery Room Nurse |
| Gemma James Smith | Teacher |
| Pia Ajango | Saarne Institute Receptionist |
| Matthew Raudsepp | Saarne Institute Orderly |
| Sugith Varughese | ICU Doctor |
| Luis Oliva | ICU Nurse |
| Ferelith Young | Waiting Room Nurse |
| Andrew Shaver | Injection Doctor |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Jaume Collet-Serra | Director |
| John Ottman | Original Music Composer |
| Ronnie Yeskel | Casting |
| David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick | Screenplay |
| Carolyn A. Loucks | Set Decoration |
| Chuck McCollum | Casting Associate |
| Alexandre Cadieux | Stunts |
| Jean Frenette | Stunts |
| André Tisseur | Key Rigging Grip |
| Tyler Hall | Stunts |
| Stéphane Lefebvre | Stunts |
| Steve Lucescu | Stunts |
| Kelli Barksdale | Stunts, Stunt Double |
| Naomi Frenette | Stunts |
| Hélèna Laliberté | Stunts |
| Angelica Lisk-Hann | Stunts |
| Jamie Jones | Stunts |
| Mike Chute | Stunts |
| Chad Camilleri | Stunts |
| Doug Slater | First Assistant Art Direction |
| John Roesch | Foley Artist |
| Melissa Girotti | Production Coordinator |
| Ron Bartlett | Sound Re-Recording Mixer |
| Doug Hemphill | Sound Re-Recording Mixer |
| Alex Mace | Story |
| Timothy Alverson | Editor |
| Tom Meyer | Production Design |
| Antoinette Messam | Costume Design |
| Susan Marucci | Script Supervisor |
| Rafy | Still Photographer |
| Amanda Goodpaster | Music Editor |
| Joseph Bonn | Music Editor |
| Patrick Rousseau | Sound Mixer |
| Patrick Banister | Art Direction |
| Pierre Perrault | Art Direction |
| Daniel Hamelin | Set Decoration |
| David Laramy | Set Decoration |
| Martine Giguère-Kazemirchuk | Set Decoration |
| John Holosko | Aerial Director of Photography |
| Bogdan Zinko | 24 Frame Playback |
| Isabelle Faivre-Duboz | Script Supervisor |
| Bryan Forde | Chief Lighting Technician |
| John Lewin | Chief Lighting Technician |
| Charles Beetz | Chief Lighting Technician |
| Eames Gagnon | Chief Lighting Technician |
| Benoit Sévigny | Chief Lighting Technician |
| Frédéric Chabot | Chief Lighting Technician |
| Pierre Jodoin | Second Unit Director of Photography |
| Bernard Larivière | Key Rigging Grip |
| Stéphane Pilon | Key Rigging Grip |
| Pete Daprato | Key Rigging Grip |
| Jeff Scott | Rigging Gaffer |
| Marco Venditto | Rigging Gaffer |
| Dave Bouskill | Rigging Gaffer |
| Peter Mathys | Rigging Gaffer |
| Jan Thijs | Still Photographer |
| Stephanie Ingram | Hair Assistant |
| Gaétan Landry | Hairdresser |
| Sophie Labrecque | Hairdresser |
| Mélanie Lavoie | Hairdresser |
| Corald Giroux | Key Hairdresser |
| Annick Chartier | Key Makeup Artist |
| Fanny Vachon | Makeup Artist |
| Tina Gerussi | Casting |
| Andrea Kenyon | Casting |
| Randi Wells | Casting |
| Justin Kiang | Casting Assistant |
| Shawn Roberts | Casting Assistant |
| Julie Breton | Extras Casting |
| Jane Rogers | Extras Casting |
| Dorothy Crutcher | Assistant Costume Designer |
| Wayne Godfrey | Costume Set Supervisor |
| Sheila E. Pruden | Costume Supervisor |
| Thierry Delattre | Visual Effects Producer |
| Daniel Leduc | Visual Effects Producer |
| Pierre Raymond | Visual Effects Producer |
| Steve Garrad | Visual Effects Producer |
| Thomas Nittmann | Visual Effects Producer |
| Emily Fenster | Visual Effects Producer |
| Peter Muyzers | Visual Effects Production Manager |
| Richard Yuricich | Visual Effects Supervisor |
| Robin Hackl | Visual Effects Supervisor |
| Edson Williams | Visual Effects Supervisor |
| Mark Freund | Visual Effects Supervisor |
| Michel Barrière | CG Supervisor |
| Jean-Pierre Flayeux | CG Supervisor |
| Richard Martin | CG Supervisor |
| Lafleche Dumais | CG Supervisor |
| Nicolas-Alexandre Noel | CG Supervisor |
| Philippe Theroux | CG Supervisor |
| Jean-François Dasylva-LaRue | Lighting Technician |
| Ronald Gilbert | Production Manager |
| Hartley Gorenstein | Production Manager |
| Pedro Gandol | First Assistant Director |
| Greg Zenon | First Assistant Director |
| Érik Ajduk | Second Assistant Director |
| Jean-François Duplat | Second Assistant Director |
| Catherine Gourdier | Second Assistant Director |
| Adam Kuhn | Production Executive |
| Shaun Magee | Stunts |
| Mathilde Gingras | Stunts |
| David McKeown | Stunts |
| Michael Scherer | Stunts |
| Kevin Kelsall | Stunts |
| Tyler Rushton | Stunts |
| Shayna Segal | Stunts |
| Réal Capuano | First Assistant Art Direction |
| Félix Larivière-Charron | First Assistant Art Direction |
| John Moran | First Assistant Art Direction |
| Aleksandra Marinkovich | First Assistant Art Direction |
| Doris Simard | Art Department Coordinator |
| Isabelle Côté | Graphic Designer |
| Raymond Larose | Set Designer |
| Vincent Gingras-Liberali | Set Designer |
| Marie-Soleil Dénommé | Assistant Set Decoration |
| André Valade | Assistant Set Decoration |
| Jeffrey A. Melvin | Assistant Set Decoration |
| Christopher Hills-Wright | Assistant Editor |
| Nancy Barker | First Assistant Sound Editor |
| Drew Yerys | Assistant Sound Editor |
| Alyson Dee Moore | Foley Artist |
| Mary Jo Lang | Foley Mixer |
| Maxime Ferland | Boom Operator |
| Robert B. Baylis | Key Grip |
| Monty Montgomerie | Key Grip |
| Deryck Blake | Property Master |
| Carl Kouri | Third Assistant Director |
| Yanie Salvas | Production Coordinator |
| Hélène Muller | Production Coordinator |
| Benoît Mathieu | Location Manager |
| Bill R. Dean | Sound Effects Editor |
| Frederick Howard | Supervising Sound Editor |
| David A. Whittaker | Sound Effects Editor |
| Jeff Cutter | Director of Photography |
| Terel Gibson | First Assistant Editor |
| Kyle Cooper | Title Designer |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Joel Silver | Producer |
| Christoph Fisser | Producer |
| Henning Molfenter | Producer |
| Don Carmody | Executive Producer |
| David Barrett | Producer |
| Susan Downey | Producer |
| Richard Mirisch | Producer |
| Erik Olsen | Producer |
| Aaron Auch | Producer |
| Ethan Erwin | Producer |
| Stacey Fields | Producer |
| Sarah Meyer | Producer |
| Michael Ireland | Executive Producer |
| Carl Woebcken | Producer |
| Jennifer Davisson | Producer |
| Leonardo DiCaprio | Producer |
| Steve Richards | Executive Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 58 | 80 | 35 |
| 2024 | 5 | 72 | 121 | 60 |
| 2024 | 6 | 61 | 86 | 44 |
| 2024 | 7 | 56 | 84 | 35 |
| 2024 | 8 | 46 | 71 | 31 |
| 2024 | 9 | 36 | 52 | 24 |
| 2024 | 10 | 64 | 140 | 28 |
| 2024 | 11 | 46 | 73 | 31 |
| 2024 | 12 | 39 | 53 | 30 |
| 2025 | 1 | 45 | 74 | 32 |
| 2025 | 2 | 27 | 49 | 6 |
| 2025 | 3 | 13 | 37 | 3 |
| 2025 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 7 |
| 2025 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
| 2025 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
| 2025 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| 2025 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| 2025 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 5 |
| 2025 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 6 |
Trending Position
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 10 | 580 | 806 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9 | 664 | 853 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8 | 724 | 757 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 | 841 | 923 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6 | 633 | 805 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | 550 | 787 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 4 | 514 | 788 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | 408 | 604 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | 676 | 787 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | 922 | 943 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 12 | 251 | 346 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 11 | 326 | 748 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 10 | 959 | 975 |
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 8 | 867 | 889 |
Isabelle Fuhrman gives an epic performance. I can't really say too much without giving away spoilers, but I can see why she ended up being Clove! ...
I had a problem with this right from the start. Just how this young girl from eastern Europe managed to get herself placed in a wealthy American family without any semblance of blood or DNA checks to establish - for real - that she was who the father "John" (Peter Sarsgaard) desperately wanted her t ... o be. Though I did enjoy the film thereafter, that implausibility was never far from the back of my mind as we see the monster that is "Esther" (a strong performance from Isabelle Fuhrman) develop around us causing havoc and mayhem for the "Coleman" family - recently recovering from their own tragic bereavement. The concept is fascinating - an adult (and a ruthless and unstable one at that) in the persona of a child using innocence as the ultimate tool for deception is cleverly delivered by the cast and from the pen of Alex Mace. The wintry scenario and the John Ottman score also contribute well to a genuine sense of menace as those who get in her way are unceremoniously snuffed out. She even manages to ensnare the services of a young and vulnerable accomplice, too! It's a perfect example of hiding in plain sight, and is certainly one of the more effective role-playing, psychological, horror films I have seen.
This is a great movie. It's one of those movies you can only watch once though. Any more after that you know what's going on. Great ending but it ruins the movie from ever watching it again. Can't wait to see the sequel though. ...