Orphan: First Kill, directed by William Brent Bell (The Boy, Brahms: The Boy II), was released in 2022 and is a prequel to the 2009 flick, Orphan. Like its predecessor, First Kill follows the exploits of the murderous Leena (Isabelle Fuhrman), a 31-year-old woman with a hormonal disorder called hypopituitarism that gives her the appearance of a 10-year-old child. Leena uses this to her advantage, scheming her way into different families who have a first date with their Maker once the gloves (or in this case, the teeth) come off and Leena reveals her true intentions. While the story is loosely based on a case in real life, the campy set-up suggests a film that doesnt take itself too seriously and audiences shouldnt either. Note: I will be discussing spoilers from Orphan and Orphan: Kill, so consider this your official spoiler warning.

Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther in Orphan: First Kill from Paramount Players, eOne, and Dark Castle Entertainment. Photo Credit: Steve Ackerman/Paramount Pictures

Orphan: First Kill has the benefit of leaning into all the campy elements in the first film, which had to play them off as slightly more serious and presented Leena as a straightforward villain. I think the first film is well-made, definitely thrilling, and pretty shocking with some of the material it presents, and not just with Leenas twist. However, First Kill is where the fun begins and it centers the attention directly on Leena rather than the family shes infiltrating.

First Kill opens with Lena staging her escape from the Saarne Institute by seducing one of the guards and killing the institutes art therapist Anna. Because audiences are already familiar with the twist, First Kill wastes no time in presenting Leena as a homicidal, but calculated maniac. Leena researches missing American children with whom she bears a resemblance, choosing to pass herself off as Esther.

Within no time and hardly any investigation later, Esther is the in the states with her family the Albrights: mother Tricia (Julia Stiles), father Allen (Rossif Sutherland), and their son Gunnar (Matthew Finlan). Julia Stiles steals the spotlight as the matriarch of the Albright clan, and while Vera Farmigas character in Orphan was beaten down and broken by tragedy, Stiles Tricia is the opposite: calculated, cruel, manipulative, and straight-up evil.

You see, the twist of First Kill is that Julia was responsible for killing her own daughter Esther and staging her kidnapping to protect the reputation of her equally as awful son Gunnar. Leenas arrival as Esther presents Julia with an unexpected opportunity, to save her marriage with her unaware husband and position her family back to the top of the social ladder. Julia wastes no time in letting Leena know shes on to her, suddenly forcing the audience to take Leenas side as she faces off against someone whos just as manipulative and cruel.

First Kill takes the psychological elements present in Orphan and turns them on their head for a ridiculous slasher film that allows itself to have fun with its premise. Sure the film might have some plot holes and other elements worth critiquing, but at the end of the day, its an entertaining outing with Esther, who I would love to see in more films. A certain suspension of disbelief is required when tuning in to films like Orphan: First Kill.

Sometimes its okay to have fun with a movie and relax the expectation that each new film will break the mold or be the next huge thing. To be honest, I was grinning the entire movie because its just what I like in a horror flick, unapologetic fun, and off-the-rails insanity.

Orphan: First Kill is currently streaming on Paramount+.

Do you think Orphan: First Kill deserves a spot on your October watch list? Tell us why or why not in the comments section.

View original post here:
31 days of horror movies: Orphan: First Kill is a reminder to have fun with movies - 1428 Elm

Comments are closed.