RememberOrphan? The 2010 horror film that was met with a resounding “it’s fine” and a whole load of controversy for its exploitative plot about a murderous psycho posing as an orphaned child? Maybe not. Either way,Orphanwas a mildly decent (but somewhat insensitive) flick mostly remembered for the bonkers central plot point from which the whole film hangs: The idea of a fully grown adult posing as a child to infiltrate and torment an unsuspecting family looking to adopt. The exploitative nature of the plotrightfully offended some adoption groups at the time, especially thanks to the original trailer including the line “It must be difficult to love an adopted child as much as your own,” but ultimately, the film was almosttoo silly to truly take to heart. Honestly, in what universe and with what exceedingly rare condition could a 20-something-year-old successfully dupe the adoption system, doctors, teachers, and potential adoptive families into believing that they’re not even old enough to watch a PG-13 film? Well… According to the family that stars inThe Curious Case of Natalia Grace, they were the victims of just that.
Yes, thisfresh new true-crime documentarytells the tale of the all-American Barnett family and Natalia, their adopted daughter who came from Ukraine with no clear records of her life before venturing to America (at least, not at first), and she’s said to be six years old and living with an extremely rare form of dwarfism. Mere months after the Barnetts adopt Natalia, they begin making claims that she is, in fact, a psychotic, 20-something-year-old with seriously violent intentions for their family of five (three sons, mom, and dad). Meanwhile, other people involved with the family believe that the Barnetts are lying — manipulating a case of extreme neglect and abuse to paint themselves as the victims, evading prosecution. Although notour de force of docu-filmmaking,The Curious Case Of Natalia Gracetells a macabre tale full of twists and turns thatwill leave you disturbed and dizzy, all the while making up for the wrongs of the 2010 film it shares its plot with by shining a more sympathetic light on little people and orphans and the challenges that these communities face.
A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she appears.
Is ‘Orphan’ Based on ‘The Curious Case of Natalia Grace’?
First of all, let’s clarify something:Orphanisnotbased on the true-life tale of Natalia Grace. They simply share plots so strangely similar that even the stars of the documentary itself make reference to just how close their stories are (something that serves as a red herring for some of the doc’s later revelations.) But that was obvious, wasn’t it?Orphancan’t be true. The film is just too far-fetched and bonkers to be a true story, right? Wrong!Orphanis actually based on a true story — just not the one featured inThe Curious Case of Natalia Grace.
The true tale that inspiredOrphanis actually much, much bleaker than the film would even have you believe, ironically. The condition that madeOrphan’sEsther look nine years old despite being in her 30s is a very real, extremely rare condition called hypopituitarism, although the symptoms are not quite at the uncanny levels of rejuvenation depicted inOrphan. Back in 2007, there was a woman living with hypopituitarism in the Czech Republic called Barbora Skrlova, who took advantage of having the condition to pose as a 13-year-old orphan girl. She did this to infiltrate an unsuspecting family, get into the mind of the family’s unstable mother, and convince her to subject her own birth children to unspeakable torture in the name of a violent cult. Just absolutely wild, right? But let’s get back to Natalia.
What Is the True Story Behind ‘The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace’?
As said previously, this docu-mini-series follows the Barnett family 10 years after what they claim to be a terrifyingly close call with death. Back in 2010, the Barnett family adopted a 6-year-old little person called Natalia who, according to them, turned out to be a 22-year-old con artist and murderous sadist. They claim she psychologically tormented and threatened the safety of the Barnetts until she shattered the couple’s marriage and their children’s psyches, as well as forced them to abandon her and leave the country. This version of events is pretty much the only perspective we’re immersed in during the first two episodes of the series, but like any true crime documentary worth its salt, things are obviously far from what they seem. We’re told this account of the tale through the endless monologs of the Barnett patriarch, Michael Barnett, who theatrically retells the tail for most of the first two episodes, reenacting and embellishing upon howhelived through his encounter with Natalia —a girl he claims to be cunning, dangerous, and pure evil.
Everything is very clearly one-sided as we sit with Michael and hear him tell the tale of his adoptive daughter as if we were around a campfire and she was the boogeyman. There is no personified interviewer, leaving us to sit powerlessly before Michael as he continuously delves into weirdly specific details and far-fetched theatrics without giving us the option to cut him off and question the various holes in his story, such as a lack of law enforcement when things got so (supposedly) violent. In summary, the Barnett’s quickly picked up on signs of Natalia being much older than she claimed, perhaps even an adult. Michael then tells a horror story of Hollywood proportions as Natalia channeled her inner Esther and tried to poison the Barnetts, threaten and abuse their children, and even supposedly attempted to kill them in their sleep via stabbing.
‘The Curious Case of Natalia Grace’ Uses Unreliable Narration
Michael Barnett isa curious choice of central interviewee and narratorfor the majority of the docu-series, given the allegations against himself regarding the case. It’s an interesting way of documenting the object rather than the subject, placing Michael’s perspective front and foremost and with very few contradicting takes or evidence to his claims (at first.) It’s interesting because any experienced true-crime watcher will see through Michael’s facade, quickly picking up on his large ego, his over-the-top theatrics, his arrogant interrogation-room storytelling, and his ridiculous embellishments, realizing that whatever it is that Michael’s claiming… Likely isn’t the truth. It’s rare to seea true-crime docwhere one of the involved persons who have the most to lose sits so proudly at the front and center and, essentially, tattles on himself through overconfidence and an unconvincing facade without even needing to hear any contradictory evidence.
After having Nataliainstitutionalized in a psychiatric wardfor posing such a supposed threat and the doctors there providing testimonies supporting the notion of Natalia being older than originally claimed, the Barnetts successfully got Natalia’s birth certificate changed to reflect her supposed adulthood. This resulted in Natalia’s age being increased by 14 years, turning her from an eight-year-old to a 22-year-old over the course of a day. The Barnetts then rid themselves of their adopted daughter by leaving her to live alone in an apartment far away. Of course, Natalia being a little person, whether eight years old or 22, would then face the daily struggle of caring for herself in a home and in a society with very little in the sense of assistance or facilitation for functional diversity, all while various pieces of evidence that wouldn’t come to light for years would continue to suggest that Natalia is, in fact, a child — a child with dwarfism whose been forced to live alone with no assisted care.
The Curious Case of Natalia Grace Is the Tale of a Victim, Not a Villain
If it wasn’t already apparent from Michael Barnett’s suspicious persona and constant contradicting of his own story, there’s a lot to doubt regarding his family’s version of events. Although the Barnett’s eldest son Jacob, who is also interviewed throughout the doc, proves to be a genuine, sympathetic young man suffering tremendous trauma from the whole ordeal, the Barnetts appear to be far more than innocent victims as the documentary pushes forward through disturbing allegations of wreckless neglect and horrifying, disgusting child abuse.
Throughout the runtime, we are introduced to more and more people with different versions of the events that began back in 2010. Members of the Little People of America Association are interviewed regarding the adoption and care of Natalia in the face of her need for specialized, attentive care when living with such a disability, expressing tremendous doubt towards the true intentions and efforts of the Barnetts when caring for their adopted daughter. Other interviewees reveal that they witnessed various signs of abuse towards Natalia on behalf of the Barnetts, as she appeared to be fearful and withdrawn towards them — a far cry from what the Barnetts would claim to bea fearless, cunning devil childthat would victimize them into a state of complete terror. Various official reports from doctors, police, social workers, and more directly contradict what Michael Barnett says regarding people who witnessed his version of events, proving that on many occasions — the man is straight-up lying through his teeth.
So, what initially seems to be a whacky tale of a killer little person posing as a child slowly begins to look more like a tremendously tragic tale of a functionally diverse person, who already has to live with the challenges and adversities of her disability, being horrifically neglected and abused. And if that was not disturbing enough; by the end, even Natalia’s false aging is brought into serious question as more shocking revelations come to light. Was Natalia’s age ever definitively proven? Or did the American legal system just allow a family to kick a young disabled girl out of their care to live on her own? As well as letting the family get away with a long list of unspeakable acts of abuse towards her? You’ll have to watch to find out for yourself.
The Curious Case of Natalia Graceis available to stream in the U.S.on Max.
