Orphan: First Kill | Film Review

 

I am such a huge fan of the first 'Orphan' movie. So as excited as I was to see a sequel (or in this case a prequel), I was very sceptical about whether or not it would be as good as the original.

After escaping from a psychiatric facility, Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) travels to America by pretending to be a family's missing daughter.

This was an okay movie. It was entertaining, but definitely not as good as the original.

The idea in itself is a really good one. This is a story that had been spoken about in the first film, so it made sense that it was the plot of the prequel. Even though the story feels unrealistic, the audience is able to suspend our disbelief because we are so familiar with Esther as a character.

The cast is great. Isabelle Fuhrman in particular is as amazing playing Esther as she was the first time around (when she was only 12 years old!)

The film didn't make me care about any of the characters, neither Esther nor anyone new that was introduced. I didn't feel invested in any of their lives or stories.

Now that the element of surprise has disappeared regarding who Esther is, a different approach had to be taken to telling her story. While I didn't love the direction the story went in, I did appreciate the originality of the turns that the film took. There are twists that definitely make the film worth watching.

The downfall of knowing so much about this story from the first film is that, even with the unexpected twists, we don't have to get too invested because we know how it's going to end.

Overall, this was an entertaining movie. It wasn't as good as the original, but still worth a watch.

6/10