The poster tag line does not lie, there’s something wrong with Esther. It sets up a nice little game, giving you a head start over the nice family (who don’t know to be suspicious) and daring you to figure out what is wrong before it’s too late. The film runs two hours, but the script and director Jaume Collet-Serra do an excellent job unceasingly tightening the screws. Nearly every scene reveals a new bit of information or sets up something you know is going to pay off later. So, it’s a long film, but there are so many payoffs and reveals it’s worth your time, as the writers thoroughly harvest the evil kid sub-genre.
Some scenes are cliche while some border on hysterical melodrama, but it works because of the cast. Vera Farmiga has the lead part and she’s game to under or overplay a scene as needed. Young Isabelle Fuhrman doesn’t completely nail the key role of Esther, but she gets most of it right so it wasn’t like I was watching a child play bad like Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son. I was watching a seriously troubled little girl.
The film has gone on to have a legacy as a cult favorite. There are plenty who didn’t like the film then and don’t like it now, but its fans are more passionate and they’ve been closely following the careers of JCS and Fuhrman ever since. After some big-budget missteps, JCS hive stood up and applauded the slick gusto of 2024’s Carry-On. It’s been a rougher road for Fuhrman. Her best work is a 2021 dramatic thriller called The Novice, which has award-worthy editing and sound. She also returned for Orphan: First Kill, which has a couple of interesting ideas but mostly doesn’t work.
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