Film Review: Orphan: First Kill

You know what, I gotta say this movie is truly an A+ for effort, regardless of all the strengths and weaknesses it may possess. Obviously, going into any film is a big deal, and it comes with its own set of issues and drawbacks that can be common with any production. However, the filmmakers behind Orphan: First Kill are given a truly major ask. Make a prequel to a 2009 horror film, big hurdle there already, and bring back the star of that film, who in the previous film portrayed a 9 year old villain at age 12, and is now 25, and must pass for even younger. Weirdly appropriate given the nature of her character.

Screenwriter, David Coggeshall, and director, William Brent Bell (of The Boy and Brahms: The Boy II fame), manage to take this task, and simply run with it. The unfortunate thing is, it doesn’t quite get good for a while. The first 50 minutes of the film pretty much feels like you’re watching one of these belated sequels or prequels, which essentially act as a soft remake of the first film. It’s very much going through the motions that we’re all kinda familiar with, and on top of that, the filmmaking itself was…let’s just say kept things amusing enough to not be boring.

But before I get into that, in terms of the basic setup, Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) the evil old lady who is stuck in a body that makes her look like a child (aside from those teeth), escapes from an Estonian psychiatric facility, and grifts her way to America, where she poses as a missing child who is returned to a wealthy family. This is where we meet Allen Albright (Rossif Sutherland), his wife Tricia (Julia Stiles), and their older teenage son, Gunnar (Matthew Finlan). Things seem to be working out fine at first, but Esther begins to take a liking to Allen, and is seen as suspicious by a local inspector, Donnan (Hiro Kanagawa).

So yeah, not too dissimilar to the setup we had in the first film. And to get into the filmmaking, I once again have to mention, I am commendable of the effort put here. To make up for the height difference (a quick Google search informs me Fuhrman is 5’3″), Bell utilized child actors as body doubles, and a combination of forced perspective and isolated shots to make you believe that Fuhrman is a small child, and with seemingly little to no digital face replacements, at least none that stood out to me. And…well…let’s just say the illusion doesn’t quite sell. The techniques being used are so obvious from the various Texas switches to the cuts to the backs of child body doubles to the awkward cutting to Fuhrman interacting with her co-performers while probably on her knees. I couldn’t help myself but chuckle throughout the film.

That said, after that 50 minute mark, while I was still under the impression that I am watching a total disaster, the film actually saves itself. It turns out the filmmakers had a little something up their sleeves, and pulled out a twist that genuinely caught me by surprise. Sure, by that point, there only a little over half an hour left into the film, but the reveal completely changes the dynamic that you assumed the film was going to lean on, thus becoming its own thing as opposed to a rehash of the original film. Does it make the film great? Absolutely not. William Brent Bell is no Jaume Collet-Serra. But it does become a really fun time, and more so on its own terms.

It does help that Isabelle Fuhrman is still really good in this role. In fact, I think she dials up the campiness just a little bit, and it really works wonders. This character is just so fascinating and weird, and you can’t help but get sucked into her plans and schemes, you want to see how far she takes things. And honestly, I think it just says a lot about Isabelle Fuhrman that she can have this whole career after the first Orphan in 2009, delivering a truly powerhouse performance in something like last year’s The Novice (please, please, please watch this, it’s fantastic), and still come back to do something silly like this. And I think the rest of the cast do a good job at balancing being aware of the kind of dopey horror film they’re in while also playing everything completely straight.

I think Orphan: First Kill could have had a better opportunity to be truly great if they introduced the twist around 30 minutes in, as opposed to nearly an hour, since it would have given the filmmakers more space to really play around with this clever dynamic that they’ve setup. But with the time allotted, I think they do a solid job. The film becomes quite the romp, and though the filmmaking issues I was having most certainly continued, it at least became less of a distraction because I became more engaged with the story and the characters. So, yeah…not necessarily a great movie, but if you dug the original, and you can get through the first half of this, I think you’ll be reasonably satisfied by the time it’s done. At least, as much as you can be with a movie that I don’t think anyone has asked for. Even with that, I think a film like this just goes to show what a weird and fickle process it is to make a movie, and how filmmakers go about to solve problems. There’s value in that, and well, that’s not what I would have expected to say when talking about this movie had you asked me prior to seeing it, which just further proves my point.

Orphan: First Kill is now out in select theaters, VOD platforms, and Paramount+.