Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: William Brent Bell
Starring: Isabelle Fuhrman, Julia Stiles, Rossif Sutherland,
Matthew Finlan, Hiro Kanagawa
The 2009 thriller Orphan saw a then 12-year-old
Isabelle Fuhrman deliver a breakout performance as Esther, a
30-year-old woman posing as a 10-year-old girl in order to mess with the
family that unwittingly adopted her. Orphan: First Kill is
set two years before the first movie, which immediately raises the
question of who plays Esther this time, and how? Surely the obvious
choice would be to opt for another child actress? But no, the filmmakers
have brought back a now 25-year-old Fuhrman to return to the role with
the "aid" of some laughably unconvincing CG and body doubles.
This immediately sets a challenge for the audience. You're either going
to buy into the idea that a woman who clearly looks 30 (no offence
intended, but Fuhrman could easily pass for 35) is somehow able to
gaslight every other character in the movie into believing she's a
child. Or you're going to roll your eyes through the whole movie.
If you can accept Orphan: First Kill on its admittedly
challenging terms, you're in for some campy fun. Directed by
William Brent Bell and written by David Coggeshall,
Orphan: First Kill takes its narrative cues from two
movies – the 1970 thriller Road to Salina and the 2012
documentary The Impostor. Both those films saw an impostor posing as a long lost family member,
only to find themselves questioning why their fake family is so easily
duped by their scam.
Here, Esther decides to pose as a missing American girl after she
breaks out of the Estonian psychiatric institute she's been housed in
since killing another family. It's implausible that she would be able to
fool both the Estonian and American authorities, considering she matches
the exact description of a prisoner who killed several guards during a
violent breakout, but like I said, you have to accept this film on its
own terms.
Brought to the US, Esther is introduced to the Albrights, the family
that believes she's their little girl who disappeared four years
earlier. Doting father Allen (Rossif Sutherland) immediately
accepts Esther but mom Tricia (Julia Stiles) and teenage son
Gunnar (Matthew Finlan) appear skeptical, as does local police
inspector Donnan (Hiro Kanagawa), who begins snooping around.
Feeling the net closing in, Esther considers fleeing, but her attraction
to Allen forces her to stick around and set in motion a campaign of
getting rid of anyone who gets in her way.
Up until its late twist, the first movie played like a typical variant
on the old Bad Seed killer kid format. With Fuhrman's uncanny valley
Jimmy Krankie features transplanted onto the bodies of child-sized stunt
doubles, this prequel has more in common with a
Child's Play movie in how its miniature menace moves
around. Fuhrman even seems to be taking some acting cues from Chucky,
often switching back and forth between adult sociopath and innocent
child in the blink of an eye fashion of cinema's most iconic killer
doll.
There's also an element of classic "Psycho Biddy" movies like
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane in the dynamic between
Esther and the increasingly suspicious Tricia, enhanced by a mid-movie
reveal. Stiles and Fuhrman are having a blast with these over-the-top
roles, going full Crawford and Davis in their taunting of one another.
While some of the laughs are unintentional, the movie is fully aware of
how outrageous its setup really is and doesn't overlook opportunities to
mock itself. Tricia becomes something of an audience surrogate, often
expressing her bemusement at the ridiculous scenario she finds herself
in. It’s a long time since Stiles has had this much fun on screen.
Orphan: First Kill has just the right level of
self-awareness to get us on board with its silliness, but it never
overdoes the winking at the audience. Despite its campy setup, it's
still trying to pull off a traditional thriller narrative, which only
enhances its campiness. It's the fact that this is all played with such
a straight face - by all but the few actors and indeed characters who
know what sort of movie they're really in – that makes it so much fun,
sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally. You can either laugh
at Orphan: First Kill or laugh with it. Either way, you'll
have some undeniable fun.
