History Film / Orphan

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The entire family except Danny, but special mention goes to [[TooDumbToLive John]].

** John. In addition to [[YourCheatingHeart cheating on Kate]] several years ago and hiding it from her, [[spoiler: he insists on believing Esther's word over hers, even in the face of overwhelming evidence.]] Both of the above cause him to lose a lot of sympathy, [[spoiler: even when Esther/Leena murders him during the climax of the film.]]

* DysfunctionJunction: On both the villainous '''and''' heroic sides. [[spoiler: Esther is really a dangerous and violent thirty-three-year-old serial killer with a hormone disorder,]] while John and Kate's marriage is on the brink of divorce due to his [[YourCheatingHeart past cheating]], her past alcoholism, and the stillbirth of their infant daughter.

* NeverMyFault: John had committed YourCheatingHeart in the past when Kate was at a mental low point, but he never seemed to accept responsibility for it.

* YourCheatingHeart: Ten years before the film's events, John cheated on Kate, although he didn't tell her until many years later.
--> '''John:''' Let me get this straight: [[NeverMyFault We can talk about my mistakes, but not yours]]?
--> '''Kate:''' I was sick! You're an asshole who wanted to fuck somebody else!

In February 2020, a prequel named ''Esther'' was announced. Production was slated to begin in summer 2020, but has been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

* HateSink: John.

--> '''John:''' Let me get this straight: We can talk about my mistakes, but not yours?

One of the few things on which pianist Kate Coleman (Creator/VeraFarmiga) agrees with her apathetic architect husband, John Coleman (Peter Saarsgard), is that a drastic change is needed to save their rocky marriage. With the burden of John's past infidelity, the emotional distance of their rebellious adolescent son, Daniel (Jimmy Bennett), and the helplessness of their deaf younger daughter, Max (Aryana Engineer), Kate's loss of her third baby in childbirth broke her sanity and drowned her in a sea of alcoholism.

In an attempt to find an alternative outlet of love meant for their stillborn child, the Colemans take in a mysterious 9-year-old Russian orphan called Esther (Creator/IsabelleFuhrman) into their family. Max, in her innocence, was ecstatic to finally have a big sister; Daniel was less than enthusiastic due to the bullying he receives at school due to her eccentricities.

Polite and creative, Esther initially had a sensitivity and charm that began to thaw the frozen hearts of the Coleman couple... and that's when people around them started getting hurt.

Beware of spoilers.

--> '''Esther:''' ''(holding a box cutter between Danny's legs)'' If I findt out that you're lying, I'll cut your hairless little prick off before you even figure out what it's for.

* {{Yandere}}: Let's just say that Esther loves her new daddy ''very much''. [[spoiler: Since she really is a 33 year old in a child's body, she seeks romantic relationships out of her adoptive fathers, and is ready to '''everything''' to keep him to herself]].[[/folder]]

* StepfordSmiler: Type 3 [[spoiler: because she is so insane and manipulative.]]

* SensualSlavs: Horribly deconstructed. [[spoiler: Thanks to a combination of deformity and sexual frustration, the only reason Esther/Leena goes in and out of foster homes is because she wants to seduce the father of the family adopting her. When it invariably fails, she has a nervous breakdown and kills everyone. Rinse and repeat.]] [[spoiler: Oh, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking she is actually]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Estonia}} Estonian]] , not Russian, so she is not Slavic anyway

* SensualSlavs: Horribly deconstructed. [[spoiler: Thanks to a combination of deformity and sexual frustration, the only reason Esther/Leena goes in and out of foster homes is because she wants to seduce the father of the family adopting her. When it invariably fails, she has a nervous breakdown and kills everyone. Rinse and repeat.]] [[spoiler: Oh, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking she is actually]] [[UsefulNotes/Estonia Estonian]] , not Russian, so she is not Slavic anyway

* HairDecorations: She wears ribbons in her pigtails.

* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler:Please, don't let me die mommy."]]

* HairDecorations: She wears ribbons in her pigtails.

* SensualSlavs: Horribly deconstructed. [[spoiler: Thanks to a combination of deformity and sexual frustration, the only reason Esther/Leena goes in and out of foster homes is because she wants to seduce the father of the family adopting her. When it invariably fails, she has a nervous breakdown and kills everyone. Rinse and repeat.]] [[spoiler: Oh, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking she is actually]] [[UsefulNotes/Estonia Estonian]] , not Russian, so she is not Slavic anyways]]

* SensualSlavs: Horribly deconstructed. [[spoiler: Thanks to a combination of deformity and sexual frustration, the only reason Esther/Leena goes in and out of foster homes is because she wants to seduce the father of the family adopting her. When it invariably fails, she has a nervous breakdown and kills everyone. Rinse and repeat.]] [[spoiler: Oh, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking she is actually]] from [[UsefulNotes/Estonia]] , not Russian, so she is not Slavic anyways]]

* SensualSlavs: Horribly deconstructed. [[spoiler: Thanks to a combination of deformity and sexual frustration, the only reason Esther/Leena goes in and out of foster homes is because she wants to seduce the father of the family adopting her. When it invariably fails, she has a nervous breakdown and kills everyone. Rinse and repeat.]] [[spoiler: Oh, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking she is actually]] [[UsefulNotes/Estonia Estonian]], not Russian, so she is not Slavic anyways.]]

--> '''Esther:''' ''(holding a box cutter between Danny's legs)'' If I find out that you're lying, I'll cut your hairless little prick off before you even figure out what it's for.

* SensualSlavs: Horribly deconstructed. [[spoiler: Thanks to a combination of deformity and sexual frustration, the only reason Esther/Leena goes in and out of foster homes is because she wants to seduce the father of the family adopting her. When it invariably fails, she has a nervous breakdown and kills everyone. Rinse and repeat.]] [[spoiler: Oh, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking she is actually Estonian]], not Russian, so she is not Slavic anyways.]]

* ConspicuousCG: A lot, but the most noticeable is Esther's knife in the finale.

* CuteAndPsycho: Appears to be a charming and polite little girl...[[spoiler: but she's really a dangerous adult psychopath.]]

* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Justified once you realize [[spoiler: she can't get a real relationship with a man due to being an adult stuck in a child's body.]] Of course it'd get frustrating. Unfortunately, she's an AxCrazy psychopath...

* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: Kate and John go back and forth on this, each considering their own past indiscretion to have been more excusable than the other's.

** Esther herself is [[spoiler: a subversion, since she is actually a 33-year-old woman.]]

* RoomFullOfCrazy: Look at all those pretty paintings she made! Wait... oh dear God...

[[folder:Tropes that concern Esther [[spoiler:(or better said, Leena Klammer)]]]]

* {{Tagline}}: [[ There's something wrong with Esther.]]

* {{Tagline}}: [[{{Understatement}} There's something wrong with Esther.]]

* DarkIsEvil: She usually wears old-fashioned, dark-colored clothes, which really fits the bill.

* LightIsNotGood: Esther happens to be a good example of this, being that she seems to be a sweet and innocent girl on the outside, but is a [[spoiler: psychotic, sociopathic, 33-year-old serial killer on the inside]]. This is reflected in her style of dress as she starts off the film wearing light-colored clothing, but as her darker nature is revealed, her dresses reflect that. [[spoiler: This is most notable in the scene where she tries to seduce John wearing a black cocktail dress, and then after her reveal as Leena, a dark shirt and pants for the rest of the film.]]

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Esther is a ruthless killer, while Creator/IsabelleFuhrman was a sweet 11 year old girl during production, who states she knew she didn't really hurt anyone and met great people on the set of the movie.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Esther is a ruthless killer, while Isabelle Furhman was a sweet 11 year old girl during production, who states she knew she didn't really hurt anyone and met great people on the set of the movie.

%%* AdultsAreUseless: John.

%%* RussianRoulette: ''"Want to play?"''

* TookALevelInBadass: [[BadassAdorable Max]] at the end where she takes a gun and was ready to shoot Esther in order to protect her mother.

* FreakOut: After her appointment with Dr. Browning, Esther locks herself in a toilet stall and proceeds to kill, hit and scream inside the stall. [[spoiler: It makes sense that at that moment, she fears Dr. Browning and her adoptive parents discovering her secret]].

* GirlishPigtails: She's seen wearing pigtails several times (most notably during the hospital scene) [[spoiler: most likely to add to her innocent little girl facade.]]

* HarmfulToMinors: After [[spoiler: murdering Sister Abigail, Esther forces Max to help her move the body and hide the evidence.]] [[spoiler: She also threatens Daniel into keeping quiet about what he saw]] [[spoiler: and later sets his treehouse on fire with him inside in an attempt to kill him.]] [[spoiler: As if that isn't enough, she also attempts to smother Daniel in the hospital]] [[spoiler: and tries to kill Max after her identity as Leena is revealed.]]

** [[spoiler: Later averted through her reveal as Leena Klammer.]]

* WomanScorned: [[spoiler: After her failed attempt to seduce John, she goes through a VillainousBreakdown and [[IfICantHaveYou kills him]] in retaliation. [[spoiler: We later learn that she did a similar thing to her previous adoptive fathers.]]