Orphan (2009 film)
2009
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- Leaning into its ludicrous premise, Orphan: First Kill is a sequel that holds its own -- and for fans of campy horror, may even represent an improvement on the original. Read Critics Reviews As long as you don't think about it too much, Orphan: First Kill is a fun, twisty thriller with plenty of replay value.
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Aug 19, 2022 · Leaning into its ludicrous premise, Orphan: First Kill is a sequel that holds its own -- and for fans of campy horror, may even represent an improvement on the original. Read Critics Reviews. As...
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- William Brent Bell
- R
- Isabelle Fuhrman
Aug 19, 2022 · With the mystery of Esther’s murderous background in the rearview mirror, “First Kill” centers her as more of a traditional slasher villain in early scenes, willing to do anything to get her freedom.
Passionate kissing, Parents need to know that Orphan: First Kill is the prequel to the 2009 horror movie Orphan. It tells Esther's origin story. Thanks to Isabelle Fuhrman's fine performance and a clever script, it surpasses its predecessor.
- William Brent Bell
- Jeffrey M. Anderson
- Paramount Players
All Critics. Top Critics. All Audience. Verified Audience. Hector A. Gonzalez Loud and Clear Reviews. Orphan: First Kill isn’t as gripping as the original film, but its self-aware tone helps...
- Esther is back from the dead in this Orphan prequel.
- What We Said About Orphan
- What’s your Favorite Dark Castle Entertainment horror movie?
- Verdict
By Matt Donato
Posted: Aug 15, 2022 4:00 pm
Orphan: First Kill will be in theaters and on Paramount+ on Aug. 19, 2022.
William Brent Bell's Orphan: First Kill is a head-scratching prequel on paper that defies its conceptual odds. Writers David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and David Coggeshall crack a code in Alex Mace's story that somehow subverts expectations despite the plot's reveal in 2009's Orphan. An Estonian mental facility escapee, a con artist's crossing into America, her ruse as a missing girl now found — it's all backstory conveyed in Jaume Collet-Serra's bonkers thriller. Not only that, but the supposed orphan's chameleon trick has been revealed already in Esther's identity. How could Bell recreate all that suspense and obscurity when we already know what's happening? Cleverly and shockingly, the answer is simple: he doesn't.
Orphan: First Kill turns back the clock on Esther despite actress Isabelle Fuhrman aging over a decade, telling about the European jailbird's beginnings in Connecticut. By posing as Allen (Rossif Sutherland) and Tricia Albright's (Julia Stiles) lost daughter, the middle-aged patient suffering from a growth disability assumes her role as a beloved child. It's the same concept of Orphan, which lulls us into a sense of familiarity that's quite aggressively overturned maybe halfway into Orphan: First Kill. A picture-perfect family is manipulated by a criminal who passes as elementary school aged while we watch in disbelief — but Bell's production has more than one wicked trick up its sleeve. The American dream once again shatters, but in a prequel that dissociates as hard as fencing prodigy Gunnar (Matthew Finlan) pushes away his not-actual sister.
Fuhrman's ability to tap back into Esther's childlike mannerisms is on display as the 25-year-old actress has to play 8 years old again, reportedly with minimal digital effects regarding physical attributes. Bell's ability to manipulate Esther's figure using lighting, body doubles, and specific shooting angles keeps Esther deceptively juvenile when Fuhrman's not allowed to break her character's playground costume. A considerable obstacle of Orphan: First Kill is the believability of an already preposterous home invasion scenario, which Bell manages to execute through Hollywood magic. No fancy de-aging technology or deep fakes — Esther thrives thanks to both Fuhrman's portrayal of an American Girl dolly come to life and Bell's transformative filmmaking techniques. It's a welcome return, watching Esther confound and terrorize an affluent household as a knee-high tormentor who coyly smiles and plays puppetmaster with such sociopathic glee.
Christopher Monfette & Phil Pirrello gave 2009's Orphan a 5/10 for IGN, writing, "Director Jaume Collet-Serra manages to keep whatever originality there is buried behind overproduced horror movie cliches and a significant lack of dimensionality to the titular character." Read the full review here.
Bell embraces more of his Stay Alive and Wer styles here, which makes Orphan: First Kill more successful than his recent work on The Boy or Brahms: The Boy II. It's never bluntly horrific but still unnerving in twist-the-knife character developments. Orphan: First Kill feels like an unbridled relic from the ‘90s like James Wan's Malignant, both stab-happy brutal and effectively unhinged as revelations unfold. A war of ruthless wits and betrayal rumbles within the Albright's estate, hardly the opening chapter Orphan fans might predict. It would have been so easy to see precious little Esther tear another marriage apart from within — Orphan: First Kill ditches the easy route, and that's why it's able to feel like fresh franchise advancement while working backward into territories once presumed understood.
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Orphan: First Kill justifies its existence by defying expectations of what rules prequels must follow. Isabelle Fuhrman slithers back into the scarred skin of a psychopath grifter who provides insight into her bloodthirsty beginnings, and it's like mortal maturation is not a factor. William Brent Bell has the right pieces to a puzzle that takes a b...
- Matt Donato
Jan 31, 2023 · Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Orphan: First Kill’ on Prime Video, in Which Isabelle Fuhrman Improbably Reprises Her Role as a Murderous Little Girl for an Insane Prequel. By John Serba. Published Jan...
Aug 18, 2022 · “Orphan: First Kill” is draggy and suspense-free. Fuhrman, as before, invests her role with a cold creepiness, but the minimal, haphazard script sticks her with playing Esther as a one-note...
