The White Orchid

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Steve Anderson directs. Patrick Meade Jones behind the camera. Enis Rotthoff scores. Jayne Rodericks cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 182 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Released 8 years ago.
• 3Directed by Steve Anderson, shot by Patrick Meade Jones. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Enis Rotthoff. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Jayne Rodericks shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Olivia Thirlby and Jennifer Beals and Rachael Taylor carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Killers Beware.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt3313182 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Only 50 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Patrick Meade Jones

Original score

Enis Rotthoff

Editing

Jayne Rodericks

Production design

Aaron Osborne

Costume design

E.B. Brooks

Makeup / hair

Thom Cammer

Sound

Paul Hollman

Runtime

82 min · 1h 22m

Status

Released

Original language

EN

IMDB

The White Orchid (2018) ↗

Also by

Steve Anderson

• 
  This Last Lonely Place

  2014 · ★ 6.5
• 
  Fuck

  2006 · ★ 6.4
• 
  The Big Empty

  2003 · ★ 6.1

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  "The White Orchid" trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• GenerationofSwine2023-01-13
  ★ 1/10

  It starts off kind of slow and then never really picks up. But, the lead does a great job of appearing smug and not at all interested in actually showing up to work and acting. Her character is supposed to be shy, but really she looks bored. Very, very, very bored. But she manages to keep that look for the duration of the film. The good news is that I am sure that look of pure boredom matches the look on viewers faces

  Read full review ↓
• Wuchak2025-11-02
  ★ 3/10

  Olivia Thirlby as a detective on the coast of central California This is considered neo-noir in the manner of De Palma, just not spiffed up in the blockbuster sense. It was inspired by the Elizabeth Smart murder case of 1947 (aka “The Black Dahlia”) but not based on it at all with the events taking place in 2014. The first 65 minutes work as a slow burn detective story with good mystery and a little sensuality, highlighted by Olivia’s unique beauty and the scenic locations of Morro Bay, which is located midway between Los Angeles and the Bay Area, the Humphrey Bogart Estate being a key site. The 2020 movie “The Invisible Man” was obviously influenced by this first hour. A nice addition is unexpected appearances by Jennifer Beals and Nichelle Nichols. Unfortunately, the climax is so contrived it enters “Why Sure!” territory. Worse, a softcore sapphic sequence is thrown in out of nowhere that is inorganic to the story and screams wannabe edgy. To add insult to injury, scenes of this make out session end up being the backdrop of the end credits. Get real. The version I saw runs 1 hour, 28 minutes. GRADE: D+

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• SA

  Santana Films

Key crew

• ProducerSteve Anderson
• Executive ProducerStephen H. Bogart
• Executive ProducerRobbert de Klerk
• Executive ProducerBill Eikost
• Co-ProducerAndre Fontanelle
• Executive ProducerJere B. Ford
• Associate ProducerHeather Kasprzak
• ProducerJosh Mandel
• ProducerJeff Marchelletta
• Line ProducerPaul J. Porter
• Associate ProducerOlivia Thirlby
• Casting DirectorRebecca Mangieri
• Casting DirectorWendy Weidman
• Art DirectionErin Cochran
• Set DecorationAbra Brayman
• Set DecorationFernando Valdes
• Costume DesignE.B. Brooks
• Hair Department HeadThom Cammer
• Makeup ArtistCamille Clark
• Makeup ArtistKim Collea
• Makeup Department HeadKim Collea
• Makeup ArtistTracey Henton
• Hair AssistantSara Jane Katen
• Makeup ArtistSara Jane Katen

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2018-02-01