Orphan: First Kill review: Even more fun than the original cult hit

There is nothing about Orphan – First Killit should be able to work. Paramount Plus’ new horror movie is a prequel to the 2009 cult-hit horror movie OrphanThe movie was produced by an entirely new writer and director. Isabelle Fuhrman is the main heirloom from the original movie.The Hunger Games), who plays the homicidal 9-year-old orphan, Esther, in both movies — in spite of the 13-year gap between prequel and original. Instead of being a disaster, it is a blessing. Orphan. First KillThe slasher is brilliant and has fun with it.

[Ed. note: This review contains significant spoilers for 2009’s Orphan.]

Orphaned by the First KillThe movie begins several years after the events of the previous film. Esther is actually Leena and she’s in Estonian hospitals. Viewers immediately get the explanation that the first movie saved for its surprise twist: While Leena looks like a 9-year old girl, she’s actually an adult woman in her 30s, with a rare condition that caused her body to stop developing. Also, she’s a homicidal murderer.

Photo: Steve Ackerman/Paramount Pictures

While the first movie teased at this twist in vague ways for most of its run time, it never really hit its stride until the last 20 minutes or so, when Esther’s secret, and her murderous intent, were out in the open. Fuhrman’s little orphan is a terrifying character, but one who’s ridiculously fun to root for, in large part because the whole concept is so silly. You still get the same fun from rooting on a villain in this movie.

David Coggeshall, writerThe TV Series “Scream”The film is quick to get into all the action, and includes an open prison break which gives us an unfiltered look at Esther’s cold-hearted mastermind nature. Esther can be found in just minutes: planning to steal and/or kill from an American family by conning them into it.

She pretends to be the abducted daughter of wealthy parents who miraculously returned. It may sound ridiculous that a family could be tricked out of recognizing their own daughter, but don’t worry, Coggeshall and director William Brent Bell (The BoyIt is also clearly believed by ).

This is possibly the most defining feature of Orphaned by the First Kill: It’s a movie that’s in on all of its own best jokes. For instance, even with the character’s rare anti-aging condition, it’s still easy to see that Fuhrman, who originally played Esther as a convincing kid in 2009, is now a 25-year-old. But the movie treats Esther’s age as its own little inside joke, employing bits of good old-fashioned Hollywood magic to keep up the illusion in most scenes, then laughing off the moments when it can’t be hidden. It’s the kind of movie where the filmmakers would rather make all the other actors wear massive platform shoes than resort to digital de-aging, because they know special-effects trickery would ruin the bit.

Photo: Steve Ackerman/Paramount Pictures

Aside from how well the joke of a 25-year-old playing a 31-year-old playing a 9-year-old works, Fuhrman also proves she’s worthy of the movie’s age-hiding shenanigans. Fuhrman’s Esther is full of fake charm, but she still laced every bit with malice. It’s a gleeful combination that helps keep each of her scenes sneeringly fun and she smartly turns the dial up as the moment demands.

All this was true in the first movie, too, which is part of why it’s become a cult hit. It’s also why it’s such a waste that we never really get the greenlight to cheer for Esther. But that’s a problem Orphaned by the First Kill smartly rectifies by centering the movie on her instead of the family she’s trying to infiltrate. No matter how many people she kills, the script makes it clear that she’s still the movie’s protagonist, fully indulging in the same kind of guilty pleasure as rooting for Jason to kill off a fresh round of Camp Crystal Lake’s unfortunate residents.

Another key ingredient that makes a difference is First KillJulia Stiles is Julia Stiles, who will help you stay on the tonal tightrope.Hustlers(playing Tricia Albright), Esther’s mother, in the movie. While Vera Farmiga’s mother character in the original movie is a broken woman, tortured by the malevolent girl she tries to help, Stiles’ character, a rich-girl heiress with secrets of her own, is every bit as unhinged as Esther herself, and deeply suspicious of her from the get-go. This gives Esther an opponent to go toe-to-toe with, and helps put the movie in the rich-people-are-weird Horror Hall of Fame. (It would make a tremendous double feature with 2018’s Thoroughbreds.)

Photo: Steve Ackerman/Paramount Pictures

Maybe the only step back is the movie’s original. First Kill’s lack of scares. This movie is not a straightforward horror film like the first. It’s more like a madcap slasher. There are only a few jump scares. Then again, there’s no way to recapture the specific kind of creepiness the first movie had.

While Orphan I got quite a bit of mileage from the notion that Esther could be seriously ill. First Kill Smartly The movie plays with the reality that everyone knows her secrets. Bell also finds a suitable replacement for traditional horror by letting the bluntness of the movie’s violence and bloodshed provide its unsettling atmosphere, which pairs well with certain characters who have a terrifying lack of empathy that only Old Money can buy.

Despite all the conventional wisdom Orphaned by the First KillThis is an excellent sequel to the slasher film. The perfect tonal balance of bloodshed and humor is achieved without any slapstick comedy. First KillIt is a smarter, more well-constructed, better horror movie than the original and one of our top picks for the year.

First Kill: OrphanParamount Plus is streaming the movie in cinemas right now.