A chilling thriller about a family who adopt a young Russian girl, who soon brings tragedy and horror to their home life.
Kate and John (played by Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard respectively) live a relatively happy life in their picturesque town with their son and daughter. But after losing their third child during birth, the couple decide to adopt, giving a loving home to someone who needs it. After some deliberation about whether the pair are ready to adopt, they go and choose a young girl called Esther (Isabella Fuhrman), a talented and quiet girl originally from Russia.
Bringing Esther home, Kate and John find she doesn’t settle in too well. Their son abhors Esther’s unusualness, picking on her at every chance, and the new girl seems to get into mischief easily. However, the truly unsettling aspect of Esther doesn’t reveal itself until we see her violent and evil behaviour, which triggers suspicion in Kate.
As Kate becomes more and more convinced of Esther’s dark character, it creates a bigger rift between her and John, who fails to see what his wife does. This rift originates from a deeper problem between the married couple, which Esther hopes to exploit.
A compelling thriller, the film is unlike many modern horror movies, in that it is patient in its approach. The film slowly reveals itself, building up suspense whilst giving snippets of the drama to come, which provides for an entertaining watch. There are only a couple of gory bits, and these are not gratuitous, and the film feeds on the audience’s dramatic irony, rather than any superficial graphic violence.
With a great plot and cast the film impresses throughout, and is a decent watch for any thriller/horror/mystery fan.
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