sirako Feels sometimes like the great Kunsten at græde i kor, and other times as heavy as any Ulrich Seidl film, but it keeps it funny and moving and deep and interesting all the time in it's very weird and excellent way.First thing: reading reviews here and everywhere, I know now, that Glaswegians believe that Mullan did an excellent job on portraying them in the movie; which is great, that's the way the movie makes you feel; I found myself visiting another town, another people, hearing them in another accent, but it felt familiar, real, uncomfortable, repulsed, angry, happy, etc.This is the most important thing, the movie goes all the way deep in every emotion you can feel.I was laughing since the first minute, almost every scene has its comedic point of view.And ******spoilers ahead******** having a guy bleeding the hole movie made me super nervous, this is something, I haven't read anywhere, the tension keeps growing in every single story on the film, the girl in the wheelchair, the guy who wants to kill Duncan and the crazy brother in the church, it's like boiling and over cooking something in an old pressure cooker, it feels like it's going to explode, and when it does, it comes to the ridiculous but primary feeling of needing the family.++++++++spoilers END+++++++++++++++ So it's a movie about the family, and the people surrounding you, but, they happen to be in Scotland.I've been lucky to find excellent movies lately, I first watched Death at a funeral (the original one), Tucker and Dale vs Evil, A fish called Wanda, Office Space, Seven Psychopaths, and this, Orphans, is the one that made me want to write a review, why? because it's excellent and pure and it proves that humans are evolving but very slowly and it hurts.

Alek Davis I read a few positive comments about this movie, so I decided to watch it. Since I really liked Peter Mullan in "My Name Is Joe", I expected "Orphans" to follow the same tradition, but after watching it for 40 minutes or so I was really disappointed, so I finally lost any interest and stopped the tape. I guess different people have different perceptions of humor, but if you - like me - are hoping for something in the mood of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" or, in the worst case, "London Kills Me", do not waste your time: you will not find anything funny (unless you get amused by listenning to every single character repeating "f***ing" every other word). The only good comment I could make would be about the actors, but even they did not save this uninteresting film.

imxo Wow, what a night this has been. It started off with Glasgow's very interesting "Orphans", and finished with Berlin's equally interesting "Nighshades"; the first was a black comedy, the second merely black. My advice to the neighbors of these Glaswegians and Berliners would be: keep your doors locked. Both of these films deal with the eternal verities of life - love, loyalty, friendship, duty, betrayal, etc. - as encountered amid the emotional squalor in two of northern Europe's major cities, but there are enough sociopathic and psychopathic characters in these two films to populate several good sized asylums for the criminally insane. These people need to get more sun."Orphans", at least, was a bittersweet black comedy, though more bitter than sweet. Life might be hard in inner-city Glasgow, but some of their vendettas would seem more appropriate to Sicily than to Scotland. There is a harshness to the humor that is at times more than black. Death can often be funny, but can one say the same for rape and murder - even when not fully consumated? Perhaps the English can enjoy this bit of schadenfreude at the Scots' expense. I have only one real complaint about "Orphans", however, and it's a technical one. The film has the WORST SUBTITLES EVER PUT ON FILM - and they're English-to-English! If the characters are speaking English - heavily accented though it may be - why on earth would the dialog itself be changed in the sub-titles? Do the people responsible really believe that they have to substitute the word "baby" in the sub-titles every time a Glaswegian holding a child makes a reference to the "wee 'un?" And to hear the characters actually say the "F" word dozens of times, yet find the word in the sub-titles not once is very odd. Maybe these sub-titles are a part black-comedy in themselves. Ultimately, though, they are just disappointing and unprofessional. In the event, I would certainly recommend this film for it's superb acting - at least I hope it's acting - black humor, and unique take on Death in Glasgow, but when it comes to your summer holidays I'd recommend giving working-class Glasgow a very wide berth. Ditto for Berlin.

rich-319 I remember sitting in the Virgin Cinema in Aberdeen back in 1999 watching this film with about 12 other people, whilst in the auditoria next door hundreds were lapping up the populist Phantom Menace and Matrix.How 'Trainspotting' became so famous while 'Orphans' has practically been ignored I simply cannot understand. This film features real characters with which you can truly identify, plus some moments of deliciously black humour. Perhaps the best summary of the emotions brought to the surface in this superb film I could give is from a song I remember being in the charts a few years ago about life being a bitter-sweet symphony. Both the good and bad sides of human nature are exposed in this film in a direct manner that might not be to the taste of all.I unreservedly recommend this under rated and little known masterpiece.