12 Great Movies That You'll Never Watch Again (And Why)
4. Orphan (2009)
What It's About: Vera Farminga and Peter Sarsgaard star as Katie and John Coleman, a married couple going through a rough patch after their third child is stillborn. While Katie turns to alcohol to ease the pain of her loss, John concedes that adoption may be the only way to save their family. The couple settle on a quiet but charming 9-year-old Russian girl named Esther, ignoring a warning from the orphanage's head Sister that strange things seem to happen around the child.
Why It's Great: While opinions are split on how relevant the evil-child scenario is in modern horror, Jaume Collet-Serras film is an example of it working as it should. The tone is set early on as the Sister that warned the Colemans about Esther gets her comeuppance, and the suspense builds steadily as we begin to learn that there is a lot more to this girl than meets the eye. This is a rare example of a genuinely scary movie lined with genuine human emotion.
Why You'll Never Watch It Again: You appreciate Isabelle Fuhrmans performance as Esther a whole lot more when you realise that what you thought was a tormented young girl is actually a fully matured woman with hypopituitarism, a rare hormone disorder that stunts physical growth. It transpires that she is actually 33-years-old and has spent most of her life disguised as a little girl, getting adopted by couples so that she can eventually seduce the husband. Its a great twist, but watching Peter Sarsgaard squirm as his adopted daughter comes onto him isnt something you need to see twice.