Plot Summary
In Hamden, Connecticut, Kate and John Coleman’s marriage is strained after the stillbirth of their third child, Jessica, whose loss is particularly hard on Kate, a recovering alcoholic. She and John then decide to adopt a 9-year-old Russian girl, Esther, from St. Mariana’s Home for Girls, a local orphanage. Their 6-year-old deaf daughter, Max, embraces Esther, but their 12-year-old son, Daniel, is far less welcoming. One night, Kate and John begin to have sex until Esther interrupts them. Kate becomes suspicious when Esther expresses far more knowledge of sex than expected of a child her age.
Esther then exhibits hostile behavior in front of Max and Daniel, such as killing an injured pigeon and breaking the ankle of a bullying classmate named Brenda. Sister Abigail, the head of the orphanage, visits the household, warning Kate and John that tragic events and incidents occur around Esther, including the house fire that killed her previous adoptive family. When Abigail attempts to leave, Esther causes her to spin her car on the road and then bludgeons her to death with a hammer. She forces Max to help her move the body and then hides the evidence in Daniel’s treehouse.
Daniel sees them at the treehouse, and later that night, Esther interrogates him about what he saw, threatening to castrate him if he tells his parents. As Kate becomes further convinced about Esther’s unusual behavior, John believes she is being paranoid and tells Esther to do something nice for Kate. Esther rips out the flowers from Jessica’s grave and gives them to Kate as a bouquet. Kate is horrified and grabs Esther’s arm in distress, asserting that she did this on purpose. That night, Esther breaks her own arm with a vice, and falsely blames Kate, causing further strife in Kate and John’s marriage.
Meet the Cast
Info & Stats
Director:
Jaume Collet-Serra
Writers:
David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Alex Mace
Stars:
Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman
Categories:
Horror, Thriller
Budget:
$20,000,000.00
Revenue:
$77,912,251.00
Age: RÂ Â |Â Â Duration: 2h 3m
Watch the Trailer
All information, images and videos are credited to:
Internet Movie Database  |  The Movie Database  |  The Tv Database  |  The Poster Database  |  Wikipedia  |  YouTube
All information, images and videos are credited to:
Internet Movie Database  |  The Movie Database  |  The Tv Database  |  The Poster Database  |  Wikipedia  |  YouTube