The new horror thriller, Orphan can be summed up in one word... ridiculous. In all fairness to the film, I have to be honest and say that the horror genre is my least favorite, especially those featuring murderous children. I did go to the theatre with an open mind, but orphan: first kill is an over long, tedious film with a twist that I saw coming from a mile away. That's not to say everyone will see the twist coming, but a large portion of the audience will. The only saving grace of the film comes in the form of terrific acting by all the leads.

The film is about Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard), a married couple with two children, who are devastated after the death of their unborn child. The death takes its toll on the marriage and in Kate's despair she turns to alcohol and quickly becomes addicted. After a year spent sober, Kate and John decide to fix their fractured family by adopting a child. At the local orphanage, the pair is drawn to a seemingly angelic little girl named Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman). Feeling a connection to her, they decide to welcome her into their family and bring her home. Shortly after Esther arrives however, accidents start to happen and Kate begins to suspect that there is something seriously wrong with Esther. Kate tries to investigate the girls past and convince John that Esther is disturbed, but he basically thinks his wife is losing her mind and is completely unaware of what's going on around him. There were a few times I wanted to step into the movie and slap him in the face. No man could possibly be this oblivious. Hell, even if I thought my wife was crazy, I'd send the kid back to the orphanage in a heartbeat, if only to alleviate the burden of my mentally instable partner in life.