What makes “Orphan” a special work is the fiction that makes a leap from children’s horror *Note! Contains spoilers.

*This article touches on the core of the story, so we recommend reading it after watching the movie.

"Orphan" Synopsis

Kate Coleman had an unfortunate miscarriage and was in unbearable sorrow. To fill the void, the Colemans decided to adopt a child. They visited an orphanage and were fascinated by the eccentric 9-year-old girl Orphan, so they decided to take her in. But soon, Kate witnessed Orphan's terrifying true nature...

Children of elementary school age have different growth rates, and children who are still toddlers and children who look like teenagers can be taken in the same classroom. There are physical differences, of course, but there are also big differences in mental growth. Some children will get super excited and play with a single stag beetle all day, while others will despair at being put in the same classroom as such a child. This "despair" is the helpless dilemma of a rapidly developing mind trapped inside a child's body.

Index

• The lineage of children's horror
• The sadness of "Goth"
• Bouncing fiction

The lineage of children's horror

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"Orphan" (2009) is a film about a couple who suffer a miscarriage in a long-awaited pregnancy, and the horror that follows when they adopt an unusual nine-year-old girl from an orphanage in order to fill the void of their broken heart.

In "kid horror" films that frighten children, there are well-known works in which the characters have supernatural powers, such as in recent films like "Brightburn " (2019) and " Let the Right One In " (2008), or are haunted by demons, such as in the classics " The Omen " (1976) and " The Exorcist " (1973). The contrast between the innocent, youthful appearance of children and the sinister powers and evil spirits that possess them is what makes them so scary.

Although "Orphan" also depicts the desires and fears of a childlike appearance that are out of step with the character, it is different from the above-mentioned works. The direct source of "Orphan" is thought to be the 1956 American film " The Bad Seed ."

"Orphan" trailer

The Bad Seed is a film adaptation of the hit Broadway play based on the novel of the same name by American author William March. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy, whose work spans a wide range of genres, from gangster stories to comedies starring the Marx Brothers and musicals.

The story of "The Bad Seed" is as follows: Rhoda, a girl born into a wealthy family, is on a field trip when a classmate falls into a lake and dies. Rhoda's mother is worried about how to treat her daughter who has had such a horrific experience, but when Rhoda returns home, she finds that she is fine, and her mother is rather worried by her calmness. Worried, her mother consults her father, and finds out that her mother was a ruthless murderer. Could it be that she inherited the "bad seed" from her mother, Rhoda's grandmother? Her mother is obsessed with this new suspicion. Meanwhile, in Rhoda's treasure chest, she finds a calligraphy medal that belonged to a classmate who died on a picnic. Rhoda pursues the things she "want" with the uncontrollable desires of a child, the innocence of a child, and the lack of morals of a child.

In the original story, the mother, grieving over her daughter's murder, plots a double suicide. Rhoda is forced to take a large amount of sleeping pills, and the mother commits suicide with a gun, but a neighbor who heard the gunshot calls an ambulance and Rhoda is saved, while the mother dies. This ends with a bad aftertaste. Meanwhile, in the film, the censorship body decided that it was unacceptable for Rhoda, who is "evil," to survive, so the mother survives and Rhoda is struck by lightning and dies quite abruptly.

"The Bad Seed" trailer

Also, after the movie ended, the cast members appeared on the screen, and Nancy Kelly, who played the mother, grabbed Patty McCormack, who played Rhoda, and spanked her on the buttocks, saying, "You little thing!", emphasizing the fictional nature of the film and somehow managing to land on a soft note. The fact that the film had to go to such lengths was enough to make the viewer feel that the crime, committed by a child out of childishness, was so horrifying.

The influence of "The Bad Seed" can be seen in the homages made to "Orphan" by having Orphan play the piano and say "I'm afraid of thunder" and by having the climax take place on a lake. "Orphan" uses the basic structure of "The Bad Seed" while presenting the pitch-black horror and earnest sadness that were previously unexpressed.

The sadness of "Goth"