Orphan: First Kill

Orphan: First Kill

After escaping from an Estonian psychiatric facility, Leena Klammer travels to America by impersonating Esther, the missing daughter of a wealthy family. But when her mask starts to slip, she is put against a mother who will protect her family from the murderous “child” at any cost.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror
  • Stars: Isabelle Fuhrman, Julia Stiles, Rossif Sutherland, Sarah Luby, Hiro Kanagawa, Stephanie Sy, Erik Athavale, Jade Michael, Lauren Cochrane, Matthew Finlan, Kristen Sawatzky, Kennedy Irwin, Alec Carlos, Parker Bohotchuk, Gwendolyn Collins, Samantha Walkes, David Brown, Jeff Strome, Andrea del Campo, Alicia Johnston, Liam Stewart-Kanigan, Maxwell Nelson, Bradley Sawatzky, Marina Stephenson Kerr, Sharon Bajer, Maxine Sanders, Sadie Lee, Fred Tatasciore, Adam Hurtig, Morgan Easton-Fitzgerald, Dennis Scullard
  • Director: William Brent Bell
 Comments
  • wandernn1-81-683274 - 3 March 2024
    More Of The Same Dumb Stuff...
    How anyone could see this 'dwarf' or whatever she is supposed to be and not see she's not a teenager is beyond reason. This movie takes the Orphan theme from the first one and runs along with it with more of the same nonsense from that one.

    The idea that these movies should be a 'franchise' just goes on to show how dumb moviegoers continue to get. They throw out money to mediocre or worse 'movies' such as this one. And not only that dumb low IQ movies continue to get nominated for Awards so mediocre comedians such as Jimmy Kimmel can go on to get hosting jobs while really funny ones such as Kevin Hart get threats.

    It's a sad state of affairs. Rejoice in thy mediocrity Orphan. 4/10.
  • MB-reviewer185 - 30 August 2023
    She will kill to be part of a family
    The original first film Orphan (2009) was a particularly good horror thriller that had good acting with Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther being the best part, and a creepy effective twist to the movie. I was interested in how they would handle a prequel considering it had details from Esther's backstory in the first movie to work with. The prequel Orphan: First Kill (2022) was good with the return of Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther/Leena, and a rich family who have lost a child but also secretly there is something going on with this family. This movie has unexpected things that will happen, and because Isabelle Fuhrman was a 25-year-old when filming they used forced perspective and the cast using platform shoes to make her look shorter, and it works very well.

    The return of Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther/Leena was great to see again, knowing more about where she came from, involving escaping a mental ward and taking the place of a family's missing child because she looks younger. The rest of the rich family living in this mansion seemed normal, but by around the second act, they change tune, and the movie gets chaotic and interesting as the film plays out going in a different direction than you expect. Though the movie might follow the some of the same beats as the first film, it does do something different and unexpected; I liked how they still manage to connect with the first film's events by the end by connecting this film's events in a way that makes sense, even if you know about the big reveal of the first film.

    There are not that many deaths in this movie, much like the first film, but when they happen, they are brutal and disturbing at times, but mostly it is Esther/Leena finding out about this family's past and eventually doing something to them by the end. I was rooting for Esther not because I already knew this was leading the first film in some way, but because after a certain reveal about the family I was waiting for her to take them down. There are certain elements of the movie that I will not spoil, but there were certain things that happen that made this movie entertaining to watch with the way it is executed, and what Esther/Leena will do next by the third act.

    Orphan: First Kill (2022) was a good prequel to a good horror thriller; I would suggest watching the first film Orphan (2009) to understand some things about the character Esther and who she is, along with where she came from. The prequel has a good connection to the first film by the end tying it all together; this movie was interesting, chaotic at times, and you will root for Esther throughout the movie once you know what this family really is. It might feel like the first movie again at the beginning, but as the movie moves along it will switch it up a bit making this an entertaining movie to watch, especially if you like the first movie.
  • djrmc24 - 14 June 2023
    Unnecessary Prequel
    This movie was trying to be so different from the 2009 original but ends up falling flat. Without going into spoilers there were some aspects that I did like but overall this was a very predictable film that did not keep my interest. The Lead who plays Esther continues to do a good job but the supporting cast was not as strong. I really hope movie studios get creative and stop with the endless supply of prequels and sequels espescially when this was a very unnecessary one. Everything that made the original film so thrilling and scary in moments this one is certainly lacking. 5 stars out of 10.
  • Coventry - 27 December 2022
    Psycho-Esther, I missed you so much!
    "Orphan" is one best and most memorable horror movies since the year 2000, but let's be honest, this is primarily thanks to the shockingly perverse and practically unforeseeable end-twist. The writers of this (rather belated) prequel have done their stinking best to provide it with a shocking and unpredictable twist as well, and you know what? They succeeded reasonably well!

    In order to watch "First Kill", having seen the original "Orphan" (est. 2009) is a must. The script assumes that you already know Esther/Leena's dark secret, and it also neatly resolves some of the little mysteries we were still wondering about. Leena's horror sage begins in an Estonian institute in 2007, where she daringly and bloodily escapes from. Because of the physical resemblance, she then pretends to be an American child named Esther that went missing four years earlier. The plan seems to work, as Esther is heartly welcomed back by her mother, father, and brother. But this picturesque wealthy American family is far from perfect.

    The plot of "Orphan: First Kill" is grotesque, sick, insane and utterly preposterous, but I'll admit it makes excellent horror material. Even though the surprise element of the first film has vanished, it gets more than compensated by the demented characters and plot twists here in the prequel. Julia Stiles is great; - she even outshines the naturally born terrifying Isabelle Fuhrman who still miraculously manages to depict a 9-year-old at the age of 23.

    The only thing that massively upsets me is how poor, fake, and excessively digital the gore and special effects look. There are nasty massacres happening in this film, but they are made to look a lot less gruesome because they are cheap and amateurishly accomplished. The house fire during the climax looks lamentable as well, as if this was a SOV-production.
  • jadavix - 1 December 2022
    A pointless waste of time, effort and money
    They should have left well enough alone. The original "Orphan" was a classic, and lord knows we don't get enough of those in the horror genre these days. I only saw it once, thirteen years ago (has it really been that long?) but I can still remember lines, scenes, shots.

    It must be an act of true desperation to revisit material that old, especially when you don't even have an angle, an idea, an approach, or really anything at all. It's like they thought people would go see it because of the association with the first movie. But that movie was so long ago now, I hope and pray they're wrong.

    If there's a brighter side it's that I don't think this movie will spoil anybody's relationship to the first movie. It's not bad enough to do that. It's just a total non-event, a waste of celluloid. The movie's sole original touch was to film with the brightness turned up, making everything look bright and greyish and undifferentiated.

    There's also a twist in the family that Esther ingratiates herself with not being entirely innocent this time around. That could have been interesting, but the movie never finds a way to deal with it to make it anything other than an annoying, tacked on distraction. Julia Stiles, particularly, seems unwilling to commit to what the movie requires.

    Well, I was right there with her.

    The actor who plays the dad is the only one who is believable in his role. Esther's appearance is a wonder of modern technology. Thirteen years on, she looks like a miniature adult, which I guess is what she's supposed to be. I don't know what's more bizarre: her size, or her ghastly white skin, and black, beady eyes.
  • pratyusha-57170 - 2 November 2022
    Not as much exciting as the first part!
    As we know the first part is amazing and chilling, I think I personally expected a lot from this part. Esther's background, where she came from were portrayed good but the main story is not that well constructed, it is too easy to guess and is not that suspenseful. For the first part I was at the edge of my seat but this, not at all satisfied.

    We can watch it for fun but do not expect much when compared to the first part. Some scenes felt like they were cut off too fast, more story about ester's background could have been interesting. The cast was fine, everybody did their role as supposed to.
  • laea7777 - 22 October 2022
    Pretty Bad
    This film should've been made twelve years ago. The use of makeup, body doubles and CGI to create the illusion that Isabelle Fuhrman is younger-looking here than in the original Orphan is preposterously unconvincing. It should've been made by a different director and different writers. Most of the acting is terrible. Why was it made at all? Why wasn't it made with a ten year old actress who looks enough like Esther? Why did I give it three stars instead of one? Because Isabelle Fuhrman is magnificent. She carried the first one and she is the reason this prequel was made. Also, as bad as it is, it is still substantially better than most of the outright, utter garbage being made these days.