The Bad Orphan

This was billed as a drama. They should've add the word unbelievable to it. No one believes the actress who played Gabby is 8 years old. So, to start from that premise was ridiculous. The rest of it was a bad borrow from Orphan, which was a real hit thriller from decades ago. The movie has a very uneven start. Jess and Karl have a teen daughter, Rhiannon, who will be off to college in a few years. They will be empty-nesters and Jess' clock is ticking down. She wants to adopt a baby but she is too old so they end up adopting a European orphan who is a special needs child, instead. Gabby is rude and has major problems adjusting to the family. She doesn't want to take a bath, takes stuff from Rhiannon without asking, and gives the family a lot of nasty back talk. As the movie progresses, Gabby does some things that makes Jessica highly suspicious of her thinking she's a threat to the family but is she right? The young lady who played Gabby was in her first movie role and did a fine job. Too bad, she couldn't have been cast in a better movie! Rather disappointing but watchable.

I wasn't the first, and I'm sure I won't be the last, person here to point out that this is a watered-down version of the two "Orphan" movies starring Isabelle Fuhrman. The similarities are obvious from the very beginning, which ruined the movie for me.

I can usually suspend disbelief with movies, especially the formulaic Lifetime ones. But I could not here. "Gabby" was just too clearly not a young girl, and the connection to the "Orphan" feature films could not be ignored.

Worse, what happens to the mother toward the end of the movie was over the top. It also telegraphed what was going to happen at the end of the movie. Too predictable.

If anyone hasn't seen "Orphan" or its prequel "Orphan: First Kill", find them and watch them. They are so much better than this diluted version.

Oh so in the very beginning of the movie the writing across the screen said, "The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event", HOWEVER, this movie came out June 22, 2024 and I am here to tell you that statement is ABSOLUTELY a lie. Here's my reasons behind this, this is almost the EXACT same story as Natalia Grace, I am talking the main part that I seen that wasn't in the case of Natalia Grace was the mom being checked into a mental hospital. Don't believe me? Look up the movie "The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace" then watch every single story about that case and try to tell me I am wrong. I don't tolerate lying from anyone, and while the movie was a good movie, it starts off with a definite LIE!

For some people saying this is "unbelievable", I don't think they realize it is based on a true story , the Natalia Grace case. It is not based on the movie Orphan. However, in the real story of Natalia Grace the circumstances were much more complicated and the parents were involved in a lot of shady business to get her re-aged.

As far as this movie, unlike the real story, the make it seem like the parents are perfect angels who were duped. I feel like they should have kept more to the real story and made the parent's motivations a bit more nuanced.

The acting was not that great. I actually looked up the main actress because her acting is horrible. I do see where she has been part of a lot of other projects but not as a lead. I don't think she was ready for a lead actress role yet. Her acting was very wooden and she had the same expression the whole movie. The movie seemed a bit miscast overall.

The writing and scenery was ok. Typical lifetime movie. The story is interesting and I was able to watch it. It just was mediocre.

Lifetime at its best.

Even though it's a blatant rip-off of Orphan 2009, it just has hysterical cringe scenes.

What I did like was that Gabby starts being crazy off the bat. There's no slow build.

What's bad? The parents should have gotten rid of her way sooner. The stuff Gabby gets away with is over the top red flags. They know she's done bad stuff and know she's super intelligent but they continue to talk smack about here while she's spying on them.

Overall I was entertained. 10 rating is for laughs! Fun stuff.

If you're a fan of camp and Lifetime, this is a perfect Lifetime movie. Lmao enjoy!