Orphan follows Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), a young girl who is actually an adult, as she tries to kill her adoptive family. The prequel film Orphan: First Kill was released after surprising anticipation this year, but after two months and a slew of other horror movies, it’s been mostly forgotten.
The original film gives a glimpse into Esther’s (Leena’s) previous life, specifically that the family she lives with isn’t the first adoptive family she’s tried her antics with. Orphan: First Kill explores the dark, troubled psychology of Leena as she escapes from a psychiatric facility and fools a family into thinking she’s their missing child.
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Updated October 23rd, 2022: For the spooky season of October, or really any month, Orphan: First Kill should not be overlooked. We’ve updated this article with new information and even better quality to tell you why it should be your Halloween watch.
The original release date of Orphan: First Kill was thought to be January 28th, 2022, but it took until August 19th, 2022 to release Orphan: First Kill. While the film has been largely acclaimed, being released in August has meant that the movie was overshadowed by a variety of other horror films in the past two months. For anyone who hasn’t seen the film, or even those who have, watching or revisiting Orphan: First Kill this Halloween would be a true delight. Combined with how long fans have waited for the anticipated story, the incredible performance from Fuhrman, and the possibility of a third film, Orphan: First Kill is an excellent Halloween pick that doesn’t deserve to be forgotten this spooky season.
Orphan: First Kill Got Overlooked
Warner Bros.
Audiences waited patiently for this film. Orphan was released in 2009, meaning it’s been 13 years since the initial release. The number 13 has long been considered unlucky in society. Not to spoil anything, but based on what happens with Leena and her new family in the original film, the family Leena ends up with in the prequel will be unlucky indeed. What better way to reinforce that than watching the new film 13 years later?
October is the month for thrills and chills, and creepy adults posing as children definitely causes chills. Orphan was a summer release (July 24th), and Orphan: First Kill was released less than a month later in the year on Aug. 19th, which is an odd strategy for big horror films. Everyone is watching horror movies this October, and the fact that it’s been more than two months since Orphan: First Kill was released (in a month when most people don’t actively seek out horror films) means that many other great scary movies have been released.
Just since Orphan: First Kill was released in theaters and on Paramount+, a ton of strong contenders for spooky season have been released. The incredible films Smile and Pearl, Ti West’s prequel to his masterful movie X, were both released to massive acclaim. Dario Argento’s first film in a decade, Dark Glasses, was released on Shudder, along with a new installment of the V/H/S anthology horror series, the above-average V/H/S/99. Halloween Ends, The Invitation, Hellraiser, Grimcutty, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, Speak No Evil, Saloum, Sissy, and the very funny Deadstream were all released in the short time span between Orphan: First Kill and Halloween as well. With all these options, it’s understandable that the Orphan prequel would get lost in the shuffle of seasonal viewings, but it absolutely shouldn’t be.
Remembering Isabelle Fuhrman’s Performance
One look through Fuhrman’s Instagram shows comments from fans asking constant questions about Orphan: First Kill. Viewers were dying to learn more about Leena and were even more excited that Fuhrman was able to return. Fuhrman initially played Esther when she was a child, and Leena is still impersonating a child in the new film, which finds her escaping a psychiatric ward and taking on the role of a wealthy family’s daughter. That said, Fuhrman is in her 20s now and was tasked with playing an adult who is pretending to be a child. It was a phenomenal performance that shouldn’t be forgotten.
In interviews, Fuhrman has said they did not use CGI to de-age her. Director William Brent Bell told MovieWeb that they used old techniques like forced perspective and lighting to make Fuhrman appear like a child again. He explained:
Paramount Pictures
In addition to these techniques, Fuhrman had two body doubles, played by Kennedy Irwin and Sadie Lee. The body doubles and directorial choices were a big help in crafting one of the best performances of the year, horror or not. Fuhrman told MovieWeb in an interview:
We would make sure that the camera was at a slightly down angle for all of her close-ups, whereas with the other characters, it wouldn’t be. We would use a different lighting setup for her, to make her looker softer and more pretty. We would use a different lens for her, and of course, then there was the whole aspect of forced perspective. Everybody knows that from Lord of the Rings. Even the most common shot was a magic trick of some sort. She was scaled differently. She was in a different size chair while everybody else was on platforms. There were so many tricks happening in every single shot. We had three body doubles and stunt doubles, and in post-production, we utilized normal cleanup techniques. And instead of trying to make an aging actor look in his 20s [like LOTR], we were making a 20-something actor look like a child.
Supporting Orphan: First Kill Helps a Third Film
By watching or re-watching Orphan: First Kill this Halloween season (or any other time, really), viewers well lend their support to the franchise and show Paramount that a third film is desired. Both Fuhrman and director Bell have expressed desire to make a trilogy, but only if Orphan: First Kill works for audiences. Bell told us:
It was actually through sometimes talking to them about scenes, and hearing what they had to say that I was able to kind of bring new things to my performance as Esther, and even watching them, I learned things. I feel like the performance is so much more layered this time because of that, because I’ve had two other voices helping me and at the same time, I was going back and reading my old script from when I was 10, and all the notes I made when I was a kid and really kind of trying to ask myself every single day what I would have thought as a 10-year-old about this scene, rather than just the decision that I was thinking at the age I am right now. There was something clearly that I did when I was a kid that worked the first time around, and I really wanted to make sure that I married those two worlds of the Isabelle that I am today and the Isabelle that I was when I was 10.
As Fuhrman told us, “I’ve already been asked about Orphan 3 from the team, so maybe, you never know. I feel like we’re not going to wait 13 years this time around, though.” If audiences don’t let Orphan: First Kill fall by the wayside, forgotten in the face of so many other horror movies, then they may get their wish and see a third and final film. So if you haven’t seen Orphan: First Kill yet, check it out — ’tis the season, after all.
I think a franchise is three movies, it’s how you can tell maybe a full story, and you can always continue after that. But I feel a trilogy can tell a full story… with this story, we get to see a different side to her [Esther], but we still don’t know much about the years before… and so, there’s a lot of story there, to me and everybody. We kind of played around and talked about a lot of ideas as we were making the movie, with Isabelle especially. If we can pull this movie off — and Isabelle is so passionate about the character — it’s like, you can play this character forever if you wanted to, if we can do it in this movie… there’s a lot to that character, and I think in the future stories, she would probably become a bit more cold-hearted again.
