We all know the twist in 2009’s horror film Orphan by now, right? Surely the prequel isn’t expecting us to dupe us again, with how deliciously fucked-up that first movie’s plot turn was.
There’s a bunch of movies about evil kids out there—Matt Glasby even wrote a list of ’em for Flicks a while back. But Orphan‘s Esther shook us all by revealing that she’s not even a kid, just a murderous Estonian woman with a rare genetic condition that allows her to sneak into unsuspecting families. We’ll get to see her origins in the upcoming prequel Orphan: First Kill, slaying UK cinemas from August 19.
Isabelle Fuhrman was terrific as the doll-faced, eerily old-fashioned adoptive kid of Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard in the OG movie. But she was a legit kid then, and now she’s a woman in her 20s trying to pull off the same scam. Despite this sequel being set before those events. Who’d be dumb enough to fall for the shtick at this point?
Julia Stiles, for one. She’s appearing in a similar role to Farmiga, a desperate mum hoping that Esther can replace the missing hole in her family. But here’s a neat twist on the format—Esther is imitating the daughter Stiles lost years ago, checking her bloodied face in the mirror against a missing poster of the child.
It’s all quite reminiscent of the fascinating documentary The Imposter, about a waaaay older French guy pretending to be an American family’s long-missing song. You should definitely give that a watch if you haven’t already, as it’s probably just as chilling as Orphan: First Kill but it’s a true dang story.
With her pigtails, delicately-placed ribbons, and fancy for piano and painting disturbing neon portraits, Fuhrman’s Esther is a slightly under-appreciated horror movie villain. It’ll be spooky fun to see her reprise the role on the big screen, even if the act is a bit less convincing considering the chronological sequence of events.
