In 2009, Jaume Collet-Serra directed the David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick written screenplay Orphan starring Isabelle Fuhrman, Vera Farmiga, and Peter Sarsgaard. The premise seemed straight forward. After suffering a miscarriage, Kate and John (Farmiga and Sarsgaard) decided they still wanted to expand their family and adopted a cherubic 9-year-old named Esther (Fuhrman), but Esther wasn’t the sweet child she was pretending to be. The unexpected plot twist revealed Esther’s real name was Leena Klammer, and she has a rare disorder called hypopituitarism, which causes dwarfism. She’s been passing as a child to con families and murders anyone who gets in her way. It certainly was a twist I’m sure audiences didn’t see coming.
Although Esther met her demise at the end of Orphan, that didn’t mean the story was over. Now in 2022, 13 years after the initial film’s release, the prequel, Orphan: First Kill, premiered in select theaters over the weekend and streamed on Paramount+.
Directed by William Brent Bell with screenplay by David Coggeshall, this film finds Leena at the Saarne Institute in Estonia right before she orchestrates an escape from the psychiatric facility. Quickly figuring out how to assume a new identity, Leena scrolls through missing children websites and stumbles on a little girl whom she closely resembles. She settles on a child named Esther Albright, the daughter of a wealthy American family who has been missing for 4 years. Leena stages a way to be found by police and is eventually brought to the States to be “reunited” with her mom and dad, Tricia and Allen Albright (Julia Stiles and Rossif Sutherland), and older brother Gunnar (Matthew Finlan) and the story picks up from there.
The film doesn’t waste too much time getting to the action. There are a few violent moments early in the film and more sprinkled throughout. I had to go back and watch Orphan after watching First Kill because I didn’t remember the first film being as violent as this one, but they are similar with the gore factor. One of the major things that was a focus for me is the passage of time between this film and its predecessor. In Orphan, the lead actress Isabelle Fuhrman was a child around the age of 12 shooting the film so she looked the part. Now at age 25, it was very evident that she had grown up. The editing department could have used the Stranger Things season 4 Eleven/Millie Bobby Brown age down magic to really convince the audience that the events happening here were before the first film. But it wasn’t distracting enough where I couldn’t enjoy the movie. It’s one of those things that is noticeable, but you just ignore the elephant in the room and go with it.
Many going into Orphan: First Kill were expecting another plot twist to be on the same level as in Orphan, and I’m pleased to say there was one that I didn’t see coming just like in the first film. And when it happened, First Kill went on a chaotic thrill ride until the conclusion. The plot twist led to some of the best scenes between Julia Stiles and Isabelle Fuhrman. The interactions between the two of them were comically devious to watch so much so that I was rooting for Esther to come out unscathed. The Orphan franchise isn’t the type of horror that has jump scares, but it’s the kind of horror splashed with comic relief and sprinkled with bouts of violence to be considered scary. There’s no shocking ending to Orphan: First Kill because we know Esther survived to wreak havoc on the Coleman family several years later in Orphan, but I still was left with more questions.
What happened to Leena’s birth parents for her to end up in Saarne Institute in the first place? In Orphan, Leena is slated to be 33 and in Orphan: First Kill, she’s 31. What happened in those gap years? Was she at Saint Mariana’s Orphanage For Girls that entire time? I wouldn’t mind another movie in the Orphan film universe to explore those questions.
Orphan: First Kill overall is a fun film. I don’t think it’s meant to be taken as a top tier horror flick, but as a camp masterpiece that will have you laughing as well as closing your eyes at the more squeamish elements.
I give Orphan: First Kill 3.5/5 stars.
Did you check out Orphan: First Kill last weekend? How do you think it was compared to Orphan? Let us know in the comments below.
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Amber Dover is a multimedia journalist with over a decade writing about pop culture. Cat mom with a deep love of horror, you can follow Amber at @Glambergirlblog on Instagram and Twitter.
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