Orphan: Critic Reviews

85%

MovieWeb: 9 reviews

55%

RottenTomatoes: 141 reviews

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly (Top Critic)

25

To really get under your skin, a bad-seed horror movie needs a demon child whose dastardliness sneaks up on you. There's nothing too subtle, however, about Esther.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Manohla Dargis New York Times (Top Critic)

30

Actors have to eat like the rest of us, but you still have to wonder how Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard ended up wading through Orphan and not laughing.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Catherine Shoard Guardian [UK] (Top Critic)

60

Some impressively committed work from Farmiga (even when Googling "Children who kill") and a humdinger of a twist make this a rather good bad seed.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Claudia Puig USA Today (Top Critic)

63

It's a cut above most spooky-kid movies, with a twist that sets it apart.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Ann Hornaday Washington Post (Top Critic)

Surely writers David Leslie Johnson and Alex Mace deserve their own circle of hell for thinking up the story, which moves with breathtaking cynicism from disturbing to grotesque to perverse to ludicrous.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Ty Burr Boston Globe (Top Critic)

63

Director Jaume Collet-Serra moves Orphan along efficiently, doling out a 'boo!' shot every few minutes with mechanical professionalism.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Joe Neumaier New York Daily News (Top Critic)

40

The scares are often the generic, push-off-the-slide variety and Orphan doesn't add much to the genre except, disturbingly, a fetishistic bent that's creepy in the wrong way.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Kathleen Murphy MSN Movies (Top Critic)

60

While the third-act surprise twist of Orphan must have looked wicked-good on paper, on screen ... not so much.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times (Top Critic)

88

Here is a shamelessly effective horror film based on the most diabolical of movie malefactors, a child.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune (Top Critic)

50

There's a surprise ending, followed by several bonus endings, and we're not giving anything away in noting that the film's titular adoptee has more lives than Chucky.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Cliff Doerksen Chicago Reader (Top Critic)

Director Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax) endows this ugly mess with a slew of unintentional laughs, but not enough to repay the 123-minute time suck.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Tirdad Derakhshani Philadelphia Inquirer (Top Critic)

75

One of the best entries in the cute-as-a-button-psycho-demon-child-from-hell subgenre.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Adam Graham Detroit News (Top Critic)

67

The film rests on Furhman's shoulders, and she's up to the task.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic (Top Critic)

70

Orphan works because it's a film that knows exactly what it wants to be -- creepy as all get out -- and does everything possible to achieve that goal.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Todd McCarthy Variety (Top Critic)

Teasingly enjoyable rubbish through the first hour, Orphan becomes genuine trash during its protracted second half.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Kyle Smith New York Post (Top Critic)

38

Although reasonably, cheesily suspenseful, the movie takes a long time to get going. Its tagline, 'There's something wrong with Esther,' turns out to be a masterpiece of understatement.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Roger Moore Orlando Sentinel (Top Critic)

40

It feels too slow and moody for the Halloween crowd and too absurd and silly for more discriminating horror fans.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Greg Quill Toronto Star (Top Critic)

63

The best thing about Orphan, is the way it plays with the genre's overused staples and its sophisticated audience's expectations.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Jennie Punter Globe and Mail (Top Critic)

50

[Orphan] never exploits the dramatic possibilities, despite the efforts of its excellent cast and gorgeous production values.
Full Review » 3 years ago
James Berardinelli ReelViews (Top Critic)

38

It would be harder to find a more dark and joyless thriller on the market than this one.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Kirk Honeycutt Hollywood Reporter (Top Critic)

A pretty interesting movie about the crack-up of an American family lies right under the filmmakers' noses, but in their rush to deliver shock and gore they miss every opportunity to make a smart movie.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Christy Lemire Associated Press (Top Critic)

Director Jaume Collet-Serra, working from a devilishly clever script by David Leslie Johnson, maintains steady suspense while mercifully mixing in some moments of dark humor.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Glenn Whipp Los Angeles Times (Top Critic)

40

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.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Dave White Movies.com

90

Full Review » 1 year ago
Felix Vasquez Jr. Cinema Crazed

63

As interesting as Collet-Serra's story is, there's simply nothing here that you won't find in other better evil children films in the library...
Full Review » 2 years ago