Welcome back to Reel Horror! Today, we’ll be discussing the Barbora Škrlová case, the basis of the 2009 movie Orphan, as well as the film’s tragic repercussions in the years that followed.

DISCLAIMER: I am neither a medical nor a mental health professional. Additionally, several details of the Škrlová case are related through hearsay and internet rumor. This article is for educational and entertainment purposes only. I have done my best to report the facts as they are and note a few places where urban legend has taken root.

It is difficult to pinpoint an exact beginning, as not much is known about Škrlová’s early life. She suffered from a severe form of hypopituitarism, a disorder that occurs when the pituitary gland is unable to produce adequate hormones. This results in delayed physical growth. Škrlová had the appearance of a 13-year-old well into adulthood, in addition to significant mental health issues possibly related to the disorder. Some sources say that Skrlova was institutionalized at an early age, but that she escaped through mysterious means around age 18; however, this cannot be proven, as no documents were ever released about her childhood or institutionalization.

In 1995, Škrlová reportedly met Klara and Katerina Mauerova, two sisters from Kurim, Czechoslovakia, at a university in Brno. She posed as a 12-year old girl named Anicka and claimed that she had escaped from an abusive home. Klara and Katerina took her home to live with them. Katerina and Klara both suffered from religious delusions and unstable behavior. Over the years, Škrlová eventually convinced Klara and Katerina to join a cult called “The Grail Movement”, which is believed to be the source of motivation for the violence that would soon follow. She also convinced the women that Klara’s two young sons Ondrej and Yakub were evil and deserved harsh punishment, which led them to lock the boys in cages in the basement and deprive them of food and water.

In 2007, a neighbor overheard the boys screaming and alerted the police, who raided the house and arrested Klara and Katerina for child abuse. Škrlová escaped by posing as the adopted daughter of Klara, and she was taken away by a social worker. Škrlová eventually escaped Czech authorities and fled to Norway, where she shaved her head and pretended to be a 13-year-old boy named Adam.

Škrlová arrived at a center for homeless children in Oslo in 2008, where she once again claimed to have been abused. She was adopted as Adam by a Norwegian couple, who enrolled Škrlová at Marienlyst School. She kept up the appearance of a young teenage boy for months until police tracked her down. She was then identified with DNA testing and deported back to the Czech Republic, where she faced trial alongside Klara and Katerina, who were both diagnosed with severe schizophrenia by court psychiatrists. Klara was sentenced to nine years in a psychiatric institution, and Katerina was given eight in a different specialized hospital.

Skrlova herself was sentenced to five years in prison for fraud charges, though her prosecutors pushed unsuccessfully for a longer sentence. She only served 2.5 years of her sentence before being released in 2011, as her lawyer argued that her psychological condition deteriorated in prison. She was on probation for 5 years. Škrlová has avoided the public eye since her release, and her whereabouts are currently unknown to the public.

Under normal circumstances, this would be the end of the story. The 2009 film Orphan bears a striking resemblance to the details of the Škrlová case, down to the exact diagnosis of Esther/Leena Klammer. Unfortunately, real-world events took a sadder turn.

Natalia Grace is a Ukrainian woman who was born with a rare form of dwarfism. She was adopted in 2010 by Kristine and Michael Barnett. It is theorized that the Barnetts may have been influenced by the events of the film Orphan, as Kristine mentioned the film by name in an interview. In 2012, they alleged that Natalia was a violent adult masquerading as a child and legally changed her birth year from 2003 to 1989. In 2023, however, a DNA test confirmed that she was approximately 22 at the time of testing, which would have made her 7 years old in 2010. The Barnetts were charged with neglect: Michael was acquitted in 2022, and the charges against Kristine were dismissed in 2023. Natalia’s birth year was reverted to 2003 after these findings. She now lives in upstate New York.

Cases like these serve as a harsh reminder that the way cases such as Škrlová’s are handled, publicized, and sensationalized can have devastating effects on innocent people, and it is important to keep that in mind when using true crime as an inspiration for horror films.