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Orphan

Play trailer Orphan 2025 2h 12m Biography Drama History Play Trailer Watchlist
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63% Tomatometer 19 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
The film follows the boy's painful journey when a man appears from his mother's past and he discovers the true story of her survival during World War II. Andor has to come to terms with this man as a usurping father he only has hatred for.

Critics Reviews

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Ben Croll TheWrap Sep 6
Immaculate and inert, “Orphan” plays like a Spruce Goose power ballad too leaden to lift. Go to Full Review
Adam Solomons IndieWire Aug 28
B+
As with “Son of Saul” and “Sunset,” this is a sophisticated endeavor and, in craft terms, a level above the norm. Go to Full Review
Marshall Shaffer Little White Lies Aug 28
Orphan renders its compelling concept in narratively shallow and dramaturgically flat terms. The film’s stellar leading performance from Bojtorján Barabás seems to occur despite the character’s lack of depth and direction. Go to Full Review
James Mottram Radio Times Nov 20
3/5
A young Jewish boy in 1957 Budapest longs for his late father in this austere, though awkward, drama. Go to Full Review
Stephen Saito Moveable Fest Oct 27
This chronological successor [to "Son of Saul"] reaffirms its director as a generational talent. Go to Full Review
Colton Peregoy MovieJawn Oct 14
Impeccable in its construction, moving through its emotional tones, Orphan is yet another profound glimpse into the past that offers insight into making sense of the increasingly tumultuous present. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Mate P @matepolcz Oct 26 Orphan (Árva) is a quite slow, but beautifully-shot film. The characters are well-written and layered, but in Hungarian movies I miss normality. All the characters have big flaws. When they introduced Berend I thought he would be this extremely abusive guy, but I was surprised to see that he isn't that bad. He is, but not as much as I initially thought. He wants to make himself happy, but he doesn't care about others. Klára has Stockholm syndrome, basically. The actor guy could be the good guy, but he makes weird decisions too. It's a great character study. Andor and Sári are likeable characters, which makes it enjoyable to watch. The other thing that was constantly making this enjoyable is the cinematography. This was probably enhanced by the 35mm projection. Many scenes could be straight from a Robert Eggers / Jarin Blaschke movie. I guess they were inspired by the same director / cinematographer, but I don't know who. The editing is the reason I don't love this movie. It becomes quite uninteresting in the middle. I think they should've cut it down more. The production design is wonderful and the visual effects are quite seamless, although I think I knew when they used them. The score is great, I love how it reflected Andor's feelings. The acting performances are good, especially the young lead's who had to carry this film at a very young age. Although I have to note that sometimes I didn't understand what they said. Orphan (Árva) has Oscar nomination worthy cinematography, but overall it isn't as good as I wanted it to be. See more Read all reviews
Orphan

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Movie Info

Synopsis The film follows the boy's painful journey when a man appears from his mother's past and he discovers the true story of her survival during World War II. Andor has to come to terms with this man as a usurping father he only has hatred for.
Director
László Nemes
Producer
Ildiko Kemeny, Ferenc Szále, Mike Goodridge, Alexander Rodnyansky, Gregory Jankilevitsch
Screenwriter
László Nemes, Clara Royer
Genre
Biography, Drama, History
Original Language
Hungarian
Runtime
2h 12m