'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Orphan First Kill is a prequel to the 2009 psychological thriller/horror film, Orphan. Directed by William Brent Bell, it features actor Isabelle Fuhrmann reprising her role as the patient of psychosis cum con-artist Leena, who impersonates Esther Albright, the missing daughter of a wealthy family in Connecticut, America.
Orphan First Kill released in theaters and on Paramount+, on August 19, 2022. In addition to Fuhrmann, the cast includes actors Julia Stiles as Tricia Albright, Rossif Sutherland as Allen Albright, Matthew Finlan as Gunnar Albright, and Hiro Kanagawa as Inspector Donnan.
Read on to find out what Orphan First Kill has got to offer.
Orphan First Kill backlinks to Saarne Institute, Estonia, 2007
Saarne Institute sounds familiar because of its appearance in the first Orphan film. The mother, played by actor Vera Fermiga, had grown suspicious of their adopted daughter and decided to Google search the name of the institute after she had spotted it in the text that Esther/Leena carried.
The prequel starts at Saarne, an asylum for mentally unstable patients, and re-introduces Leena to the viewers, who is dubbed as the “most dangerous patient.”
Her brutality as a patient of psychosis has been downplayed because that’s the selling point of the film, but never to the extent that it comes off as something new. For instance, when art therapy instructor Anna Troyev arrives at Saarne, an alarm goes off and Leena is declared missing.
Anna is shown to a room with a blinking red light, where she is assured that she will be safe, a cue that she is certainly not. Moments later, Leena appears, sitting in the same room drawing, and introduces herself. Anna, aware of who she is, stands in disbelief only to be rescued by the perfect timing of the hospital’s officials.
The first part of the film is dotted with such events, which are solely there to prove how lethal and manipulative Leena could get. From seducing a guard to stealing his key, bribing an inmate with candy, attacking another guard, and killing Anna before stealing her belongings, as well as an identity, Esther Albright/Leena is established as the perfect psychotic killer.
On the run, Leena was found by a policeman in a park in Estonia. Cutto, Connecticut, where Tricia and Allen Albright were informed that their missing daughter, Esther Albright, had been found in Russia.
Tricia reaches Moscow, and the family believes that it has reconciled with their missing daughter. Leena thus comes to America as Esther. Tricia and Allen also have a son, Gunnar, who is into fencing, a sport that only befits the genre of the film.
As a new life begins for Leena/Esther, it is only natural for the story that people become suspicious of her. It begins with Gunnar, moves on to therapist Dr Segar (played by Samantha Walkes), and ends with Inspector Dannon. It is interesting to see how Dannon is stabbed by Leena/Esther first, and then shot by Tricia.
So, how does Leena have competition in Orphan First Kill?
The turn of events almost an hour later is mind-boggling. Remember Gunnar being suspicious of Leena? Not because he finds her weird, but because he is the reason why Tricia thought it would be great to have Leena come live with them despite being aware of her true identity.
The tables have turned, and Leena/Esther becomes the pawn. Here, it is refreshing to see a psycho dance to the tunes of an upper-class American woman, as well as collaborate with her to put up the pretense for Allen’s sake.
According to Allen, they lost their daughter Esther after she was abducted years ago, only to emerge in another part of the world one fine morning. But Leena does not try to break his house of glass. She gets closer to Allen, the way she did with the father in the first film. The growing proximity between Allen and Leena/Esther, in amalgamation with the awareness that the latter is a psychotic patient, and Leena’s failed attempt to kill Gunnar and Tricia, sends the mastermind of a mother into a frenzy.
She decided to do away with Leena, the way she admitted she did away with her daughter (the real Esther), only to end up losing her son, her life, and her family.
Orphan First Kill ends with Leena as the surviving member of the Albright family. She is put up for adoption, and we have a film from 13 years ago about what happened after that.
Is Orphan First Kill better than Orphan?
Yes, Orphan First Kill is better than Orphan not just in terms of storyline, but characterization and addressing larger themes that revolve around the society’s attitude towards mental health.
Leena has a gland disorder and proportional dwarfism, because of which she looks like a 10-year-old girl when in reality, she is 31. The doctor also revealed that, prior to living at the institute, Leena had “wormed” her way into a family of four. While he refrained from disclosing what transpired, we get the idea that it must have been gore and brutal.
While both films, Orphan and Orphan First Kill, testify to the violence that Leena is capable of, they don’t seem to bother with Leena’s background story. Who was she before being branded as the freak? Where does she come from? Does she have a family? And even though her sexual attraction towards the fathers by virtue of the Electra Complex makes sense, why does she always have a bone to pick with the mother and her son?
As a prequel, Orphan First Kill failed to answer these questions. However, there are crevices in the door that give way to streaks of potential future storylines.
For instance, when Anna Troyev is given a crash course on Leena and her disorder, she remarks, “Imagine going through your own life with the world only seeing a child.” This one dialogue sums up Leena’s suppressed fantasies and desires as a 31-year-old grown woman, but the film leaves it there. It barely tries to look beyond the shades and into Leena’s wants.
Prequels are usually oriented towards explaining a character’s past in order to validate their present. Orphan First Kill, on the other hand, validates only the psychotic side of Leena, as if that’s the mettle she is made of. Writers David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Alex Mace ensure that Leena’s insecurities as a pawn don’t cross the line and slip into empathy for the real Esther.
Fuhrmann did an excellent job balancing the character’s psychotic arcs with a sense of vulnerability after realizing that she could also be held at gun-point. The supporting characters fit their roles as much, especially Stiles, who gave Leena a tough competition and viewers a run for their money and time.
The film is also a commentary on the lives of those that walk the thread between sanity and insanity, and thus, live on the fringes of society. A scene between Leena and Gunnar, where the latter warns her of any harm to his family only to get smacked by Leena in the face, has Gunnar say, “I f*****g own you.” This entitled sense of ownership of anything that the rich believe to be beneath them becomes a good debating point.
Because no one will believe if Leena is turned in to the police as a patient of psychosis from Estonia, who impersonated the daughter of a rich family and came down to lead a lavish life in the US. But this arc was also dismissed as a couple of scenes of threats and warnings.
The film succeeds in expanding the horizons of what can all come under the umbrella of psychosis. For instance, a mother who concealed her daughter’s death to save her son certainly can’t be branded normal. A brother who killed his sister and lived to threaten anyone that came his way is miles away from sanity. But because these are people that can get away with it by virtue of their social status, it is hardly discussed.
By the end, Orphan First Kill seems to be a logical trajectory to expand the Orphan world, but the brains behind the brand need to move beyond the blueprint of family violence to expand the franchise. If they decide to stick to the family arc, they better backlink to Leena’s origins.
Orphan First Kill is available to Indian viewers on rent, on Amazon Prime Video.
