15 Awesome Plot Twists That Totally Saved Awful Movies

4. Esther Is Actually An Adult With Dwarfism - Orphan

Esther The Orphan
Warner Bros. Pictures

The Twist: It turns out that the 9-year-old Russian girl, Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), adopted by Kate and John Coleman (Vera Farmiga & Peter Sarsgaard) is really a 33-year-old with dwarfism, and a psychopathic one at that. It's eventually revealed that she has a history of getting adopted, coming onto the father in each family, and when rejected, killing them.

This leads to Esther killing John, and Kate killing Esther by kicking her in the neck, but not before shouting, "I'm not your f***ing mommy!". Hilarious.

Why It Saves The Movie: After a compelling introduction, Orphan quickly succumbs to an overwhelming feeling of familiarity, and despite the efforts of its cast (especially Fuhrman), is pretty much just another trashy horror flick.

The twist, though, does at least shake up the expected formula, delivering a wildly unexpected and frankly pretty funny shock that does a fine job of making the movie's third act a riotous, delicious delight. Shame about that first hour, though.

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Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.