Threat Focus: Evil Child in Orphan

Throughout Orphan, the plot focuses around a young girl called Esther. Esther is adopted into a family with previous troubles and every thing appears to be normal at first.

In horror films, we previously looked at the threat which the characters have to face, and in this case Esther is the threat throughout the film. Children are often used as the threat in horror because they are not expected to be evil or violent. Instead children are seen as weak and vulnerable and incapable of arranging gruesome acts such as the ones which take place in Orphan.

At the beginning of Orphan, Esther is portrayed as an intelligent young girl. There is a long lead up in Esther's entrance, as we do not see her face for several minutes, instead we hear her singing, as it seems she's isolated from the old girls downstairs. This adds mystery to Esther's character as it makes the viewer wonder why she is alone, there are also hints from mise en scene suggesting something is not quite right with her, because there are many diagonal lines in the frame during her entrance. In Esther's entrance, we also learn she is an orphan, this creates a sense of sympathy for her to begin with, subverting the idea that she is a threat suggested by the trailer. It does however perhaps hint that this troubled childhood is the reason for her isolation and strange behaviour when she moves into the family home.

After settling in well with the family, it lulls the viewer and family into a false sense of security that every thing is going to be okay. This is shown when Esther is very polite and makes an effort to get on well with the family, especially Max, Kate's youngest daughter who is deaf. However, this quickly begins to change as Esther becomes very controlling and manipulative of Max. It becomes clear that the friendship is not genuine  certainly from Esther as she starts ordering Max to help her. Sister Abigail alerts Kate and John that there is something not quite right with Esther, and this raises Kate's concern for her own children. This highlights how children can be used as a threat in horror films, because they are able to fit into a group and start destroying the family from the inside out, threatening everything the family has ever worked for.

Esther shows how violent she is and what lack of compassion she has towards Sister Abigail. Feeling under threat herself, Esther manipulates and forces Max to help her kill Sister Abigail, by standing in the middle of the road, distracting her, giving Esther the opportunity to smash Sister Abigail's head with a hammer. This shows how children can be influenced and feel peer pressured into helping other children, in this case, the evil child. The lack of  concern Esther has for her violent actions hint of her troubled past, and lead the viewer to draw conclusions about her. This shows how gradually she is seen as a more and more of a threat.

Throughout Orphan, sometimes Esther tricks the characters into trusting her so she can get what she wants. For example, Esther shows sympathy towards Kate when talking about her dead baby, yet this is just a ploy to try and gain trust, and make Kate look like the worse person later in the film. Esther also has a hold over all of the other children and John. The children suspect Esther and do not truly like her, showing that they can determine something isn't quite right. Also, Esther's manipulated ways are highlighted when she manages to get John to threaten leaving Kate and take the children with him.

Throughout the film, Esther is often wearing black and white clothes. This shows mixed messages because white shows purity and innocence, both of which do not apply to Esther, but lead in the other characters giving them a false impression of her. When Esther wears black, or by looking at her dark black hair, it could suggest suffering, which is one reason why Kate and John are drawn to her. Also the use of bows first look like a childish addition to the outfit, so when their true use is revealed, it adds to Esther's character.