'Orphan: First Kill' is the campy sequel we didn't know we needed | movie review

Esther, the titular Orphan from 2009's cult classic, makes her triumphant return in Orphan: First Kill, an origin story prequel that you didn't know you needed.

Orphan: First Kill doubles down on the original's wacky premise to deliver a deliciously campy prequel that will please fans of the first movie and convert a few new ones. With each passing twist, and a pair of perfectly tuned-in performances from Isabelle Fuhrman and Julia Stiles, the movie delights, terrifies, and entertains from beginning to end. A camp cult classic in the making.

One of my favorite memories growing up is watching silly B-horror movies with my older sister—I Know What You Did Last Summer, Fear Island, the Final Destination series. But one of our favorites was 2009's Orphan. It was kind of silly in a self-serious way but legitimately creepy and scary. The exact type of horror movie that we could come back to whenever we needed a comfort watch. Of course, we were excited when we heard that a sequel was forthcoming, with the original Esther.

From the opening moments, we were giddily soaking in the creepy atmosphere. But then, our excitement waned. For the first half of Orphan: First Kill, what we loved about the first movie was dialed too high—the dramatics, Esther's creepiness, the gore. It wasn't the movie we loved. But then the twist happened—that glorious twist that completely changed the way we were watching the movie and turned it into a campy classic that I could see us enjoying for years to come.

The first half was also campy fun, but the game of expectations made it feel like a betrayal of the original. In retrospect, it only made sense for the movie to open that way. We remeet Leena (played again by Isabelle Fuhrman who is made to look 10 years old with the help of movie magic) in a mental institution in Estonia before the events of the first movie. As her doctor explains, she suffers from proportional dwarfism, a disease that causes her to look the same age even as her mind grows and develops. You could imagine how that would make a person go mad—and mad she does go. After escaping the institution with manipulation and hilariously brutal kills for a “ten-year-old,” Leena hatches a plan to get to America.

Finding a missing girl to whom she holds a passing resemblance, Leena assumes her identity and poses as Esther Albright, the daughter of wealthy artist Allen (Rossif Sutherland) and his philanthropist wife Tricia (Julia Stiles). She concocts a kidnapping backstory, which would explain how she found herself in Estonia… with an accent. Over the coming weeks, “Esther” tries to assimilate into the family by piecing together fragments of the actual Esther's life.

What made Fuhrman's performance in the original so iconic and terrifying—part of the reason why a sequel would only work with her—was her ability to make Esther just odd enough to put you on edge but not enough to convince you she isn't anything but a creepy, but normal, child. In First Kill, her performance is dialed up to 11, which doesn't work—until it does. Remember that twist I mentioned a bit ago? Without spoiling, it doubles down on the wackiness of the premise to deliver some of the highest gay shriek-inducing camp that includes a deliciously devilish performance from Julia Stiles.

More movies, less problems

Hey! I'm Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I'm also a Tomatometer-approved critic.

💌 Sign up for our weekly email newsletter with movie recommendations available to stream.

Karl Delossantos

Website | + posts

Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.