Orphan (2009)

Isabelle Fuhrman: Esther

Photos 

14 more photos

Quotes 

• Esther : Please... don't let me die, Mommy!

  [holds knife behind her back, preparing to kill Kate] 

  Kate Coleman : [pause]  I'm *NOT* your *FUCKING MOMMY!*

  [she violently kicks Esther's head] 

• Kate Coleman : Esther? We have to talk about last night.

  Esther : Do we?

  Kate Coleman : Yes, we do... See, there are certain things that grownups do that children aren't supposed to see, and, uh... that was one of 'em.

  [a pause; Esther keeps painting] 

  Kate Coleman : Esther, listen to me.

  [Esther turns to Kate] 

  Kate Coleman : When grownups love each other very, very much... they want to show each other that love; they want to express it...

  Esther : I know. They fuck.

• Daniel Coleman : [watching Esther neatly cut up her food]  Can you eat normal?

  Esther : I am eating normal.

  Daniel Coleman : Yeah, maybe in Transylvania or whatever country you're from.

  Esther : Incidentally, I'm from Russia. Transylvania isn't even a country. It's a part of Romania.

  Daniel Coleman : You're such a freak.

  Kate Coleman : Hey.

  John Coleman : Hey, Danny... I don't want any more talk like that, all right?

  Daniel Coleman : But why does she have to act like that? All my friends make fun of me because of her.

  John Coleman : Maybe you need some different friends.

  Daniel Coleman : Maybe you should send her back to the retard camp where she belongs.

  Kate Coleman : Daniel.

  John Coleman : Daniel! Apologize to your sister.

  Daniel Coleman : She's not my *fucking* sister.

• Esther : Stop talking to me like I'm a child!

• [Esther holds a box cutter to a sleeping Daniel's neck; he wakes up] 

  Esther : Shhhh...

  [She grabs his hair and slams his head against the pillow] 

  Daniel Coleman : Ah!

  Esther : Tell me what you saw.

  Daniel Coleman : What are you doing?

  Esther : What did you see?

  Daniel Coleman : [crying]  I saw you and Max in the treehouse...

  Esther : [pulls his hair]  What else?

  Daniel Coleman : What do you mean?

  Esther : What else did you see?

  Daniel Coleman : Nothing, I didn't see anything else, I swear!

  Esther : Did you tell anyone?

  Daniel Coleman : No... I didn't tell anyone.

  [as he cries, she moves the box cutter down between his legs] 

  Esther : If I find out that you're lying, I'll cut your hairless little prick off before you even figure out what it's for. Do you understand me?

  Daniel Coleman : Yes...

  [a dark stain appears on his pants] 

  Esther : You pissed yourself.

• [Kate overhears Esther playing Tchaikovsky flawlessly on the piano] 

  Kate Coleman : You told me you didn't know how to play.

  Esther : No, I didn't.

  Kate Coleman : Yes, you did.

  Esther : You offered to teach me, and I accepted.

  Kate Coleman : Okay... so, then, you were just... pretending, this whole time?

  Esther : I thought you would enjoy teaching me. It must be frustrating for someone who loves music as much as you to have a son who isn't interested and a daughter who can't even hear.

• [Esther and Max walk up after Daniel has shot a pigeon with his paintball gun] 

  Esther : Did you kill it?

  Daniel Coleman : [crying]  It was just a paintball, I didn't think it'd hurt him...

  [She picks up a big rock and holds it out to him] 

  Esther : Put it out of its misery.

  [off his look] 

  Esther : It's in pain. And it's your responsibility.

  Daniel Coleman : It was just an accident.

  Esther : If you walk away now, it'll starve to death. Is that what you want?

  [pause] 

  Daniel Coleman : I'm not doin' it...

  [after a moment, she smashes the pigeon with the rock] 

  Esther : [to Max]  It's all right. It's in Heaven now.

  Daniel Coleman : What's wrong with you?

• Kate Coleman : I know what you're doing. I will not let you hurt my children.

  Esther : Me? I'm not the one who passed out drunk and let Max almost drown in the pond. If it wasn't for John, she'd be dead. And you'd probably still be in jail.

  Kate Coleman : ...Who told you that?

  Esther : [holds up Kate's diary]  It's very intimate. I learned so much about you.

  Kate Coleman : Give it to me.

  Esther : Jessica. Your cheating husband.

  Kate Coleman : Esther... give it to me.

  Esther : Where you hide your wine bottles.

  Kate Coleman : I'm - I'm warning you right now.

  Esther : [reading]  "She was still kicking when the doctor told me it was something called phantom - "

  [Kate angrily snatches the diary away] 

  Esther : " - fetal movement. For sixteen days I carried - "

  Kate Coleman : Stop it.

  Esther : " - my dead baby inside me."

  Kate Coleman : Esther!

  Esther : "It was the cruelest torture I could imagine."

  Kate Coleman : Stop it! You stop it! What's wrong with you?

• John Coleman : Where'd you get the idea for this one?

  Esther : My paintings always tell stories. This one's about a sad mother lion who can't find her cubs.

  John Coleman : She's smiling.

  Esther : She's dreaming about her babies. It's the only thing that makes her happy.

  John Coleman : I hope she finds them.

  Esther : She will. Look.

  [She begins painting the cubs] 

  Esther : They were lost in the jungle, and they were so scared because they didn't have a mother or father. But just when they thought they'd be alone forever, they found their mother asleep under this tree. Now when she wakes up, her dream will have come true. She'll have her family again.

• [whispering into Max's hearing aid] 

  Esther : I'll shoot Mommy if you tell.

• Esther : I like it when it's just the two of us. You don't know how long I've waited for a daddy just like you.

  John Coleman : Mommy too, right?

  Esther : I don't think Mommy likes me very much.

  John Coleman : Hey. That's not true, Mommy loves you.

  Esther : It's all right. It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own.

  John Coleman : Sweetheart, you're just as much part of this family as Danny and Max, okay? Why don't you do something nice for Mommy, show her how much you love her?

  Esther : That's a wonderful idea.

• [Holding a big rock over an unconscious Daniel's head] 

  Esther : Don't worry. You're going to Heaven.

• Kate Coleman : Go to your room.

  Esther : Honestly, we're past that now, aren't we?

• John Coleman : She painted all these.

  Kate Coleman : Really?

  John Coleman : Yeah.

  Kate Coleman : These are fantastic. These are really wonderful.

  Esther : Thank you.

  Kate Coleman : Well, where did you learn how to do this?

  Esther : I've just had lots of time to practice, I guess. It's really boring here.

  Kate Coleman : It's boring here? Hey, if you're so bored, then why aren't you down at the party?

  Esther : I've never really seen the point of it. Nobody's ever talked to me before. I guess I'm different.

  Kate Coleman : There's nothing wrong with being different, you know.

  John Coleman : Well, you two have a lot in common.

• Max Coleman : [signing]  You tricked me.

  Esther : That doesn't matter. They'll send you to jail just for helping me hide her. I had to kill her, because she was going to tell on me. You're not going to tell on me... are you?

• [to Max, after smashing Sister Abigail in the head with a hammer] 

  Esther : Stop crying. Grab a foot, and help me get her off the road. Now!

• Esther : I think people should always try to take the bad things that happen to them in their lives, and turn them into something good. Don't you?

• Esther : Going somewhere, Kate?

• Esther : Kate, it's too late. It's your own fault. You took your family for granted.

  [She tries to leave; Kate grabs her] 

  Kate Coleman : What do you mean?

  Esther : What are you going to do? Hit me?

• [as Daniel rummages through his treehouse, Esther suddenly enters behind him] 

  Esther : Are you looking for this?

  [pulls the hammer and her bloody clothes from Max's backpack] 

  Esther : Poor Sister Abigail. I couldn't have done it myself, you know. Max is just as guilty as I am.

  Daniel Coleman : Whatever Max did, you made her do it!

  Esther : Think about it.

  [pulls Max's drawings from her pocket] 

  Esther : How did she even know what was up here? It's always better to burn the evidence.

  [begins spraying lighter fluid on the pile] 

  Esther : If they find these things, they won't just be coming for me. They'll be coming for Max, too.

  [lights a match] 

  Esther : Is it really what you want?

  Daniel Coleman : Wait!

  [She drops the match and sprays more fluid all over the floor] 

  Daniel Coleman : What are you doing? Are you crazy?

• Kate Coleman : Go to your room!

  Esther : Honestly Kate, we're past that now, aren't we?

• Esther : I have a special surprise for you, Mommy!

• [pointing a revolver at Max's head] 

  Esther : Do you want to play?