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Orphan | 2009 | R | - 8.9.6

A husband and his wife (Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga) struggle with the loss of their unborn child and after a period of time decide to adopt. When they meet and are taken with a charming 9-year-old girl (Isabelle Fuhrman) at an orphanage open house, they commit to bringing her home to join their family. When strange things begin happening, they are driven to delve into the girl's past to try to find out who she really is. Also with CCH Pounder, Jimmy Bennett, Margo Martindale, Karel Roden and Aryana Engineer. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. [2:03]

SEX/NUDITY 8 - A husband and his wife flirt, they kiss, he lifts her onto a counter, she removes her tank top and he removes his shirt (we see her in a bra and he's bare-chested), he leans her forward over a counter and thrusts from behind (we hear moaning); they are interrupted when they realize a child is watching them.
 A wife crawls under the covers into bed with her husband and we see movement under the covers and it is implied that she is performing oral sex; they kiss and moan and are interrupted. A husband (he's bare-chested), hugs his wife, they kiss briefly then lie in bed together.
 A few boys (about 11 years old) look at a pornographic magazine: we see a nude woman, revealing bare breasts and with thong panties in a suggestive pose. We see paintings of a nude man and a woman caressing and kissing each other (bare breasts are visible, genitals are covered, and the man's hand is shown touching the woman's genitals in one painting). A woman wears a sheer T-shirt that reveals the outline of her breasts and nipples. A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage. A woman wears a short nightgown. A woman climbs out of bed wearing lace panties. A woman lifts her top to reveal a scar on her abdomen.
 A girl wearing an evening gown and made up tries to seduce a man, she kisses him on the cheek and tells him, "Let me take care of you"; he rejects her. A woman talks to a married man at a park and invites him to help her move some furniture (it is implied that they have had a sexual relationship). A wife asks her husband if he was hitting on a woman at the park (it is implied that they had an extra-marital affair in the past).

VIOLENCE/GORE 9 - A woman is beaten repeatedly in the head by a girl with a hammer: we see blood splatter on snow around her and on the girl's face and dress and we hear crunching and squishing with each blow; we see the woman lying dead on the ground later with a blood-soaked face. A woman is struck in the head by a girl with a hammer: she falls to the ground and we see blood on her forehead and pooling under her.
 We hear a thud and a man falls to the floor with a knife in his side (we see blood on his shirt); he is then stabbed repeatedly in the chest (we hear crunching and see blood spurting and flowing onto the floor around him).
 A woman has a nightmare about being in labor, she moans and grimaces while entering a hospital, she is taken to an operating room while we see blood pour from underneath the wheelchair where she is seated and her hand is bloody, hospital personnel begin a procedure after telling her that her baby is dead, and we see bloody instruments, we hear crunching and squishing, and the woman screams as she is handed a blood drenched baby.
 A girl with a knife runs toward a woman, she is stabbed, they fight and wrestle, they fall on a frozen lake, the ice breaks, they fall in the water, they continue fighting and one is stabbed in the abdomen; one climbs out of the water and kicks the other in the head, breaking her neck, and she sinks back into the water motionless.
 A woman falls through a greenhouse window and lands on a girl (the girl lies motionless). A girl puts her own arm in a vice, and she tightens it until her arm breaks (she screams and we see the bone press against the skin).
 A girl squirts lighter fluid on items and around a tree house, then lights it and locks a boy inside; he climbs out, slips down the roof, clings to a support beam, and then falls to the ground where he lies unconscious and we later see him in the hospital with a neck injury and internal bleeding. A girl climbs on top of an unconscious boy and smothers him with a pillow (we see him blue-tinged and motionless).
 A woman is shot in the shoulder, and she falls to the ground and moans and we see her hand covered with blood. A boy shoots paintballs at plastic toys, then at a live bird, striking it and wounding it (we see the bird twitching on the ground); a girl then thrusts a large rock down on top of the bird killing it (blood spurts out onto snow around it and we hear a crunch).
 A woman punches a girl in the face (we see blood on her mouth), and the woman is pulled away and sedated. A girl is shoved off a piece of playground equipment, we hear a crunch when her leg hits a slide and she cries while lying on the ground (we hear later that she broke her ankle). A girl is shoved into a street in front of an oncoming car; the car swerves, spins around and stops without striking the girl. A girl holds a large rock over a boy's head preparing to kill him and she is stopped. A woman yells at a girl and grabs her arm, and the girl screams and runs away.
 A 9-year-old girl finds a loaded gun in a safe; she unloads all but one bullet, and holds the gun to a younger girl's head and asks her to play. A girl holds an open utility knife to the throat of a boy, pulls his hair and questions him, and then she holds the knife to his genitals and threatens him, causing him to urinate (we see a stain appear on his pajama pants). A girl tells a younger girl that she will shoot her mother if she tells on her.
 A woman with a child in the car drives into an intersection and is nearly struck by a speeding truck. A woman drives recklessly on snow-covered roads, swerving to avoid oncoming cars and a snowplow.
 We hear that a girl's family died in a house fire. We hear that a girl fell into a lake and nearly drowned. A boy says, "I'm killing Trevor" while playing a video game. A woman signs to her hearing impaired daughter a bedtime story about the death of a sister. A man makes a joke about a snowman outside an orphanage calling it a snow orphan or a "snorphan."
 A girl paints a picture of tortured people (one person hanging, one person with a knife in her head, one person severed at the waist, other people with tortured looks on their faces and a building engulfed in flames) and we see these images a couple of times.
 A boy bumps into a girl in a school hallway causing her to drop her books, she gathers her things together and screams when another girl teases her and touches a ribbon adorning her neck. Grade school aged children tease a girl for the way she dresses and for bringing a Bible to school. A girl violently kicks and punches a bathroom stall and screams in a couple of scenes. A girl violently throws things around a room. Two young girls are frightened by thunder and lightning.
 A woman lifts her top to reveal a scar on her abdomen. We see scars on a girl's throat and wrists.

LANGUAGE 6 - About 10 F-words (one said by a 9-year-old girl, and one by an 11-year-old boy), two references are made to a girl dropping the "F-bomb," 3 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms, 4 mild obscenities, name-calling (Little Bo Peep, Jesus Freak, freak, retard, dumb), 9 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A woman takes prescription pills in a few scenes. A man drinks an entire bottle of wine and smokes cigarettes, a woman pours a glass of wine (she does not drink), a man drinks a beer with dinner, and a woman talks about having an urge to stop at a wine store (there is the implication that she has a drinking problem). A man smokes cigarettes in a few scenes (once at a children's playground), and a woman puts a cigarette in her mouth (she does not light it).

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Adoption, adoption of older children, background information about orphans, miscarriages, still birth, coercion, hormone disorders, hearing impairment, jealousy, alcoholism, infidelity, mental illness, trust, suspicion.

MESSAGE - It pays to look into the past of someone you are adopting.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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