Orphan: First Kill (2022)
Directed by William Brent Bell
The original Orphan was a great horror movie, with a truly shocking twist ending it stunned us all. When they announced a prequel starring the actress that originally played Esther, I have to say I was really skeptical. I had to give it a watch and decide.
Orphan First Kill follows “Esther”on her escape from an Estonian mental facility. Soon she finds her way to America by pretending to be a lost girl. The mother seems rather skeptical and finds out Esther’s truth. Now they are in a match of wills and wits trying to gain ground. The acting is really solid all around. Isabelle Fuhrman returns to her form from the first inestallment, she is really menacing and great. Julia Stiles, an actress I usually do not enjoy does a great job as well, she conveys the twisted side of the character flawlessly. The few kills are pretty solid too, nothing too crazy, nothing too blah.
Filmography and special effects are really impressive. Isabelle Furhman is legit 25 years old, they had to use CGI to deage her. Along with CGI the cast wore platform shoes to increase their height and make Furhman look shorter. I noticed a few instances of forsce persepective as well, which is always impressive. Watch Elf, for an example of that. Really the only issue I had with the movie is the odd scene where Esther steals the car, and puts the song Maniac by Michael Sambello on the radio, that was totally off tone and too silly for me.
This movie deserves a watch. It was nice to see a prequel movie that didn’t suck. The acting is great, the directing is good, the dialogue is solid. If it wasn’t for that one odd scene, I’d really really like this movie. I give Orphan: First Kill a good B+.
