User Reviews

One of the most underrated horror films of the 2000s is Orphan (2009). Many horror fans will probably agree that the 2000s wasn't exactly the best decade for the genre, but there were some brilliant exceptions here and there (The Descent (2005) and REC (2007) always stand out, for example). It surprises me that Orphan has been mostly forgotten by the masses, because it really is an exceptional piece of work. It's tense, the performances are all solid, and the twist is so fantastic that it boggles the mind that it isn't talked about more often. Nevertheless, Orphan: First Kill, a prequel film that nobody asked for, is here to reintroduce Esther (Fuhrman) into the public consciousness. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sceptical when I read that this film would be a prequel. Considering how Esther's true nature was revealed in the original's masterful third-act twist (I won't spoil it here), a great deal of tension has already been eliminated from any future storylines involving this antagonist. To my surprise, however, David Coggeshall manages to throw a few curveballs into the film's narrative to keep us on our toes, but regardless of a pretty ludicrous plot twist and some decent splatter, Orphan: First Kill doesn't measure up to the strengths of the original.

On the plus side, Isabelle Fuhrman slips back into the role of Esther effortlessly, and the filmmakers utilise some neat film trickery to withhold the illusion that she is supposed to be a thirteen-year-old girl. Fuhrman is twenty-five now, so it was always going to be a challenge to trick the audience into believing her portrayal of Esther as we once did back when she was the same age as the character. Arguably, this was one of the most important aspects of the film to get right, and I'm glad to say the filmmakers succeeded. The performances are decent enough and Julia Stiles works well alongside Fuhrman to create a unique dynamic that I wasn't anticipating. Where the film falters is a lack of genuine suspense, and the key twist here is, whilst intriguing, quite far-fetched. It doesn't pack the same punch as the original and the script changes gears so fast and so often that it never gives its ideas time to breathe. It's almost as if the filmmakers were uncomfortably conscious of the fact that the film's best trick has already been played in the original. In the end, Orphan: First Kill is a perfectly fine yet unnecessary horror film. A prequel to the original film was never going to hit in the same way, but for what it is, it's alright. Isabelle Fuhrman is once again a strong screen presence and there are some fun kills, but ultimately the film left me wondering if it really needed to exist in the first place.

One of the film's strongest aspects is the outstanding performance by Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther. Fuhrman effortlessly embodies the complex and chilling nature of the character, showcasing her acting range and making Esther both captivating and unsettling to watch. Her portrayal adds depth and intensity to the film, making it worth seeing for her performance alone.

The prequel attempts to delve deeper into Esther's past, providing a backstory that sheds light on her twisted psyche. This exploration adds layers to the character, giving viewers a better understanding of her motivations. The psychological elements add intrigue and elevate the film beyond a simple slasher flick.

Orphan First Kill manages to create moments of genuine suspense and tension. Some scenes are expertly crafted, building up the anticipation and delivering chilling payoffs. These moments keep viewers on the edge of their seats, adding an undeniable thrill to the viewing experience.

On the other hand, the film suffers from pacing issues that hinder its overall impact. The narrative feels uneven, with certain scenes dragging on and others feeling rushed. This inconsistency disrupts the flow of the story, preventing full immersion in the plot and dampening the impact of key moments.

Despite Isabelle Fuhrman's compelling performance, the script fails to fully develop Esther's character. While the prequel attempts to provide depth, it falls short of delivering a truly nuanced exploration of her motivations. This missed opportunity leaves a sense of unfulfilled potential and prevents the film from reaching its full emotional and psychological impact.

The cinematography and production design are serviceable but fail to stand out. While they effectively contribute to the eerie atmosphere, they lack the visual flair and creativity that could have elevated the film to new heights.

I absolutely loved the original Orphan film so was excited to revisit the character in this prequel.

After half an hour or so I was a tad underwhelmed as things felt fairly similar to that first film.

However ... an absolutely deranged and outlandish twist sends things in a very bold direction which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was not expecting it at all and it made for a truly wild and intriguing second half of this film.

I do think they could have played on this a little more and shortened the pre-twist antics to strengthen the post twist antics, but still, a real treat.

The de-aging technology or whatever they used worked really well on Isabella Fuhrman and didn't break the illusion at all. Julia Stiles was on fire in a very interesting role.

One criticism however is that for large sections of the film the picture had a smoky and murky quality which made certain sections seem out of focus and I really didn't enjoy this.

Overall though this film is an absolute blast. Fans of the first Orphan film will love this I'm sure. Despite the fact that for a horror film its never particularly scary, the killer twist and deliciously deranged second half make for one hell of a ride.

The first movie is better in my opinion, Julia Stiles performed pretty well. Leena is not her unleashed self here rather she is on the defensive. There is an alright twist too which caries much of the plot later on. Some illogical moments here and there, but overall it is a watchable movie.

"The orphan" was a fantastic genre movie that really surprised many in a positive way.

The prequel "The first kill" however, is showing endless logic gaps, lacks coherence and tries to copy many good elements from the first one while awfully failing.

The main actress does no longer represent a nine year old girl and what worked in part 1 appears like a desperate hope to catch viewers with the same idea twice. If the story was only a bit more realistic and some new features included. Unfortunately that's not the case.

What a big pity to wait more than 10 years, only to sit there shaking your head basically throughout the whole film...

This movie is nice. It's not at the level as the first one, which was really good, with the surprising and shocking twist. This one is similar to the first but yet it's different. Also, this one is less scary, more of a thriller.

The only thing which bothered me is that the movie is REALLY dark, sometimes very hard to see anything.

Definitely not a masterpiece or a movie that people will talk about for ages, but still a nice movie to watch in your free time.

I recently watched a film starring Isabelle Fuhrman and remember thinking they are going to have a task on their hands making her look as young as she's supposed to for the upcoming 'Orphan' prequel. They did a pretty incredible job all things considered. I was sold.

I like prequels - or should I say I like the concept of prequels. There have been some really good ones, but also some very average ones over the years. And I'd say the average ones outweigh the good ones. 'Orphan: First Kill' is one of the better ones in recent times. There was a point where I thought it was going to be a copy and paste job of the original. Then a twist came along that changed everything and the movie progressed nicely from there.

I was wondering whether the film was going to work better as it was in the original with the twist at the end, or in the prequel with us knowing the twist the whole time. I think you could make a case for both working equally well. It was a great twist back in 2009, however knowing what is going on throughout the whole movie is pretty creepy too.

I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I anticipated I would. It was quick, it got in, told its story and got out. It had good levels of violence, and it had a twist that I thought was very well hidden and added a great new aspect to the film. I recommend checking this one out. 8/10.

In Estonia 2007, Leena Klammer (Isabelle Fuhrman) is a 31 year old mental patient at the Saarne Institute who is criminally insane and suffers from Hypopituitarism that gives her the appearance of a 10 year old child. When Leena orchestrates her escape from the institute she assumes the identity of a missing child who looks close enough to her named Esther Albright. Esther is brought to the Albrights in Connecticut consisting of Allen and Tricia (Rossif Sutherland and Julia Stiles) and their teenage son Gunnar (Matthew Finlan). As Leena assumes her role in the Albright home, growing particularly attached to Allen, she finds her lies under ever increasing scrutiny from multiple parties.

Orphan: First Kill is the belated prequel to the 2009 horror film Orphan which opened to decent reviews and healthy box office and became a cult hit due to a particularly shocking third act reveal/twist as well as Isabelle Fuhrman's creepy but nuanced performance as Esther. Needless to say it was more than a little eyebrow raising that not only would we be getting a prequel to this cult hit, but it was also going to feature Fuhrman reprising her role despite 11 Years having elapsed between the first film's release and this sequel (filming was done in Winter of 2020). Given all those circumstances, Orphan: First Kill had fairly low expectations, but surprisingly the movie is quite fun and functions as a trashy darkly comic thrill ride.

Much like the first Orphan the movie belongs to Furman as Esther/Leena. While the actress is certainly no longer a child, the filmmakers do a good enough job of conveying the illusion of Fuhrman playing this role through a mixture of forced perspective, elevated shoes and furniture, and various body doubles to give the idea Fuhrman is shorter than she actual is. While this does run the risk of being distracting or unintentionally humorous, the movie reframes the story so it's told from Leena's perspective so it does kind of work in context especially when you consider the performance as a counterpoint to Furhman's role in the first film where she was a child who had to pretend to be an adult and now playing the same character dials more into those adult aspects while attempting to look like a child.

Storywise the movie follows a similar setup with Esther infiltrating a family and of course developing attractions towards the father figure in that family and while the first half does follow the framework setup by the original, it's the second half that throws everything you expect from a movie like this out the window and gives some truly jaw-dropping revelations that lead the story to some unique directions. The level of conniving and backstabbing (sometimes literally) is an absolute joy to behold and the performances by Stiles, Sutherland, Finlan, and others help to seel you on this situation just enough to keep you engaged.

Orphan: First Kill is a welcome companion piece to the original film. While it doesn't quite match the provocative and shocking third act from the 2009 film, it goes in a different direction from its predecessor and gives some bloody good fun to its audience. Assuming there's a third Orphan (and discussions have been had) I'd be more than okay with seeing Fuhrman tackle this character again.

I went in not expecting much and wasn't disappointed. Here we have a prequel that may of worked better had it been made much closer to the original movie.

There are aspects of the story that are just ridiculous. Lines that have been written that don't sound like they should. Characters doing things that seem not at all like something they would do. Plot holes scattered throughout. It doesn't completely suck but honestly it's not very good either.

Watch it or don't.

The original (Orphan 2009) without any doubt was amazing ! The potential was here with a lot of twists and extraordinary rotation and atmosphere.

Considering this movie consists with the original part it's embarrasing and losing the potential in this way with this low- box thriller, the script doesn't make any sense !!

Hope this degradation ends here even the ending was a message for another part !!

The biggest problem with this movie is that we knew how was it going to end. However, writers added this unexpected twist in the middle which was a bit unconvincing but at least it made the movie less predictable.

And yes, I found Esther somehow less scary than the first time around.

I did not expect this film to be as good as it was. It's definetly a worthy prequel. The last 30 minutes was intense and had me on the edge of my seat. If you're a fan of the first film, you really need to check this out. 7 stars.

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.

I really loved watching this film with my friends! The plot twist really shocked me, and the murder scenes satisfied me! The problem is that the film was very short, and I was expecting for more. I recommend you to watch this film, no doubts!

The lighting is extremely bad. Color grading is bad. Contrast is terrible. The out of focus feeling of the entire film is frustrating. DOP has done a terrible job and ruined a decent watching experience single-handedly. Good job.

I went into this thinking this would be just "meh". Sequels..or prequels are almost never as good as the original. I tell you I was pleasantly surprised and the makers threw in a little plot twist with the family she orig stayed with and I was like "WTF"?? Julia Stiles was great! I gave this a good solid 7 and I went into it expecting it to be a 5. Well done!!

Seriously some of these reviews make it sound like people were expecting a coen brothers movie lol. Sure it has flaws but if you just shut up, drop the negative Nancy vibes and watch it, it's entertaining. Of course it's different from the first film cause we already know the twist. They had to make it different or it would be lame.

I don't know what to think of this movie. I want to love it as I did the first one but the girl doesn't look like a kid anymore. And the parents don't even see it's not her? Strange. Do the film makers have kids? You can easily tell it's not your kid.

What about the accent? 4 years was enough to get a strong accent?

It's all too unbelievable, I rated higher because of the first one and I want them too make more of these kind of movies.

The movie would be really great if she actually looked like a child. At best she can pass for 16. Nowhere near 9.

Starts out quick paced and thrilling in the opening act then a little slow after that and you're just waiting for the blood-pumping stuff to begin again, but when it does it's a less bleak, horror like ambience and more of action in the last third of the movie. There's surprisingly a few comedic bits that didn't take away from the horror aspect of the movie too. The twist is pretty good, really unexpected, it was brilliant up to that point but after that you're really just waiting for the movie to finish because nothing as thrilling happens. I still enjoyed it though; it might not be as good as the first, it was still better than I expected so just about worth a watch. I think the end is a little underwhelming if you didn't watch the 2009 one otherwise you'd then know it's a set up for that.