Orphan (2009)

What looks like a classic adoption drama quickly turns into pure nightmare fuel. In Jaume Collet-Serra’s Orphan, Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard play grieving parents who adopt nine-year-old Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), a polite, artistic child with a horrifying secret. The film’s now-famous twist stunned audiences and helped revive interest in psychological horror.

Farmiga called it “one of the most shocking scripts I’d ever read". A chilling blend of domestic tension and gothic mystery, Orphan proves evil can come in the smallest packages.