Blu-ray Review – Orphan

Child endangerment is one of those manipulative moves from filmmakers who usually can't conjure screen tension any other way. They challenge innocence with violence, begging for a cheap reaction, as any sensible viewer will recoil from such ugliness. 2009's "Orphan" is a movie entirely built around the idea of kids in jeopardy, with screenwriter David Leslie Johnson (2018's "Aquaman" and its 2023 sequel) trying to craft a provocative story about a long game manipulation that turns an average household into a hellish pit of paranoia and hostility. It plays like a variation on "The Bad Seed" until the very moment it reveals it isn't "The Bad Seed," with Johnson looking to land a Big Twist that's ridiculous, stuck at the end of a feature that goes on for way too long, never scoring with points of suspense and mental illness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com