The Orphan First Kill - Overview

Thirteen years after the release of the original film “The Orphan,” a bloodier and ferocious prequel is just waiting around the corner for you to witness! The remarkable success of the film due to its unpredictable twist still makes it undeniably interesting and notable for the viewers. Majority of the cast from the movie are entirely new faces except for Isabelle Fuhrman who still played the role of Esther/Leena. We’re all absolutely intrigued by the sequel turned prequel of this film, so here are some quick and thorough reviews on how the film performed. A little disclaimer, this is only based on the sole perspective of a horror-thriller movie genre enthusiast!

The Orphan First Kill - Review

Let me first warn you that this might be a bit spoiler-ish so read at your own risk! For those who have seen the first film, we already know that the main character–Esther, has a proportional dwarfism called hypopituitarism caused by a hormonal disorder. In the prequel, the same actress played the role of the psychotic child from the original film that was released more than a decade ago. Therefore, the first challenge was to make Isabelle Fuhrman (Esther) look just as young as she presented herself to be. It was kind of wild portraying a character of an even younger version of the same character when the actress is already in her mid-20s. Apparently, I noticed the failure of its progression on that part. It tampered with the continuity since the age difference was certainly noticeable on both films especially when you rewatch the first one. 

The film presented the origins of Esther as the violent and psychotic child. Some aspects of the story have given definite explanations on how Leena became Esther. She plotted her escape from a psychiatric ward, traveled from Russia to America and impersonated a missing child from a wealthy family. That’s how she was able to change her name. Stealing was her only initial purpose but a deeper desire arose to make her stay. It made the story more stimulating for they revealed where her fascination for double-meaning paintings came from. 

There goes the ultimate plot twist between Esther and the family she chose to prey on. To me, it was exceptionally unpredictable. The twist caught me off guard and at a certain point of the film, it surprisingly brought sympathy and pity for Esther. It created some kind of commotion in my head because she’s the villain of the story, right? Since I actually didn’t see that coming, the twist gave the narrative seemingly big plot holes. As a viewer, I found myself analyzing the mere motives and actions of the characters for it wasn’t flawlessly laid out in the movie. It was just declared out of nowhere without any underlying and substantial build up. 

The Orphan First Kill - Final Verdict

The dilemma with prequels is the predictable nature they obtain. We certainly know that she’ll survive paving her way into the first movie so there’s nothing really shocking at the end part. Of course the shocking twist in the middle is an exception. The big climactic reveal during the finale was actually a bit humorous from my perspective but it created a compelling impact. The new characters also add a significant amount of excitement despite having notes of predictability. The Esther and Tricia Albright tandem made the show undeniably alive but the other characters quite faded into the background. However, The Orphan prequel still relatively gave me the thrills. You wouldn’t want to miss the absolute entertainment portrayed by Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther. She did not disappoint!