The lively thriller directed by Jaume Colet Colet-Serre “A Child of Darkness” (actors: Isabelle Furman, Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Jimmy Bennett) describes the audience the intriguing story of a Russian orphan who terrorizes her adopted couple, proving once again - proven Hitchcock tricks work great.
Political Correctness Above All
This sonorous title of the film “Child of Darkness” is due to the dubbing that accompanies the picture, in the original the name sounds much simpler and more serene - “Orphan”. In it, the viewer will not hear a word about the Russians, since domestic distributors were worried about the fate of this creation in Russia. And in Estonia, most likely, they will also not hear that dear Esther was undergoing therapy in their psychiatric institution.
Plot
In appearance, a completely prosperous couple, having lost a child, decides to adopt the Russian orphan Esther who is in the shelter. They are not confused that the girl wears, without taking off, vintage dresses and strange ornaments - black velvet ribbons on her wrists and neck. The fact that the baby for her age perfectly plays Tchaikovsky's musical compositions on the piano did not arouse much suspicion. After all, the child keeps underlined modestly and decently, her good looks are standard. The youngest daughter, six-year-old deaf-mute Max, immediately imbued with an affection for a new sister. But the eldest child, Daniel, on the contrary, throws hysteria to the parents with a demand to return the adopted daughter to the shelter, which is explained by a couple of his entering the rebellious period of puberty.
Further events taking place in the film thriller "Child of Darkness", the actors who took part in the filming, called the main intrigue. At the beginning of his stay in a foster family, Esther only smiles and blinks innocently, but after ... Then she will take a cobblestone and with pleasure and professionalism will finish the bird shot by Daniel. It either pushes a teased classmate from the hill, or pits parents among themselves ... And this is only the first demonstration of her potential of truly diabolical cunning, ingenuity and cruelty. Such a character presents to the viewer the film “Child of Darkness”.
Actors and roles
The description of the plot presented above makes it clear that Esther’s unbridled temper and fear of the new sister of other children are not all manifestations of the subtext embedded in the picture. The acting performance of all manifestations without exception, according to critics and the audience, can be considered as fully realized. The actors of the film "Child of Darkness" were inspired by the atmosphere of the project and proved their worth in the acting field. An annoying exception is Peter Sarsgaard, who played the role of the father of the family too sluggishly and restrainedly, as if not understanding the director’s ideas and the meaning of everything that was happening. The other actors are just great.
A particularly impressive character is the deaf and dumb Max performed by Ariana the Engineer and, without a doubt, Esther with a mysterious face Isabelle Furman. Now these two have turned out to be a great couple of antagonists, and not the notorious confrontation with Vera Farmiga, invented by screenwriters David Johnson and Alex Mace. Of course, it is noticeable that in the film "Child of Darkness" the actors and roles were selected intently and efficiently. But if the creators chose a different version of the development of events, for example, as in “The Good Son”, that is, they focused on the confrontation of children, the effect of watching a movie would be much deeper. Vera Farmiga, Karel Roden (a doctor from the hospital) and CC HH Pounder (a sister of mercy from the shelter) coped well with the incarnation of their characters. The actors and roles of the film “Child of Darkness” will long stir the minds of filmmakers and spectators.
Horror story without paranormal
It will not be superfluous to clarify: in this film, the viewer will not deal with the next manifestation of supernatural powers. “A Child of Darkness” (the actors who played the main roles are listed above) is a thriller in the best traditions of the genre, at the level of the reference “Hands rocking the cradle”. Diligently building up a web of psychology on the plot about a cuckoo, who is gradually cleverly destroying the nest in which he was, the debutant - screenwriter David Johnson - overdid it very slightly. What he confirmed one simple truth: in the thriller, the main thing is not the psychology of action, the main thing is speed, which the ingenious Hitchcock proved a long time ago. And the director Haume Collet-Serra managed to overcome the annoying and annoying blunder of his debut creation "House of Wax" in 2004 and this thriller was set really effective. The director preferred the escalation of horror, pushing aside visual beauty. Only the climax of the action flourished with violent colors of the psychopathic thought of the author.
Similar
In terms of tension and chamberness, the picture is somewhat reminiscent of the film "Joshua", which also played Vera Farmiga and also her adoptive mother, but to bring her and her husband to a psychiatric hospital in this project was intended to be a little tomboy. Looking at the design of the poster (the image of the main character), one involuntarily draws a parallel with the movie “Case No. 39”, “Yulenka”. Although the film is closer to Poison Ivy, Hobby, Fatal Attraction and other demonic stories about small children with its culmination and individual details.
From love to hate ...
In general, “Child of Darkness” (the actors of which, after the release of the picture, were at the epicenter of universal attention) is another variation of the well-known saying that love and hate are only one step away. No matter how much a person loves someone, but if the object of his feelings begins to threaten the life of dear people or the entire world order, then he breaks all contact with him or in especially dangerous cases ceases to exist. But do not go deep into philosophical considerations, just watch the movie and don’t get too scared. In our life there are things much worse than a fierce girl from Russia.