Starring: Isabelle Fuhrman, Julia Stiles, Rossif Sutherland, Matthew Finlan, Morgan Giraudet, Hiro Kanagawa, Jade Michael
OUR RATING: ★★½
Story:
Horror prequel directed by William Brent Bell. Orphan: First Kill (2022) follows Esther/Leena (Isabelle Fuhrman), a murderous sociopath who looks like a child due to a medical condition. After escaping from an Estonian psychiatric facility, Leena travels to America by impersonating the missing daughter, Esther, of a wealthy family, Katie Mauerova and Richard Mauerova (Julia Stiles and Rossif Sutherland). Yet, an unexpected twist arises that pits her against a mother who will protect her family from the murderous “child” at any cost.
Our Favorite Quotes:
'Nothing is ever just one thing.' - Allen Albright (Orphan: First Kill) Share on X
Best Quotes
Anna Troyev: Who’s Leena?
Dr. Novotny: Our most dangerous patient. In fact, she’s the reason for the opening you’re filling. Your predecessor underestimated her and ignored protocol. It did not end well.
Anna Troyev: You didn’t tell me she was a child.
Dr. Novotny: That’s because she’s not. Leena suffers from a gland disorder which causes proportional dwarfism, essentially halting her growth around age ten. Make no mistake. Leena may look like a child, but she is a grown woman. Thirty one, to be exact.
Dr. Novotny: Much of Leena’s early life was spent doing whatever she could to survive. But she never grew older, at least not on the outside.
Anna Troyev: Imagine going through your whole life, the world seeing only a child.
Dr. Novotny: It is very important that you do not see her in that way.
Dr. Novotny: Leena uses her affliction as much as she suffers from it. She’s a exceptional con artist.
Officer Kusnetsov: [after Leena runs away from the insitution] Don’t be frightened. I am police. Where are your parents?
Leena: My parents are in America.
Officer Kusnetsov: Sweetheart, what is your name?
Leena: My name is Esther.
Tricia Albright: [to Allen] Esther’s not coming back, Allen. I miss her too. I do. Every moment of every day.
Betsy: [to Tricia] What she needs right now is her family. Be prepared for changes. Four years is a long time in the development of a child.
Tricia Albright: [to Leena, who’s pretending to be Ester] Sweetie, it’s Mommy. I thought I would never see you again. Everything is right now.
Leena: Do you think Father will recognize me?
Tricia Albright: Maybe not if you keep calling him “father”.
Leena: Dad.
Tricia Albright: Yeah, that’s better.
Leena: Daddy?
Allen Albright: [as he embraces her] I’m so sorry. I can’t believe it’s really you. I always knew. I always knew.
Leena: I like painting.
Allen Albright: You like to paint? You were never interested in painting before.
Dr. Segar: [to Leena] Is there anything you want to tell me about your time away?
Dr. Segar: [referring to Leena] She seem the same as you remember? Different?
Tricia Albright: Well, of course she’s different.
'Every artist needs a space to let their inner weirdo out. We get to see beauty and passion where others don't even know to look.' - Allen Albright (Orphan: First Kill) Share on X
Dr. Segar: She is in far better shape intellectually and emotionally than I would expect.
Tricia Albright: Well, that’s good, right?
Dr. Segar: I did notice some inconsistencies. For example, she said that was Sydney. Sydney was a macaw. Bright orange and four times the size. Yet, today, she addressed this bird as Sydney with complete confidence.
Tricia Albright: What are you getting at?
Dr. Segar: To me, it felt like a performance.
Allen Albright: [to Leena] Nothing is ever just one thing, right?
Allen Albright: [to Leena] There’s no use dwelling on the past. You’re home now. That’s all that matters, right?
Leena: [practicing] Hello, Mommy. Thank you, Mommy. I know, Mommy.
Allen Albright: [referring to Leena] She drew a portrait of me. She’s got more talent than I had when I was in my twenties.
Gunnar Albright: How’s that possible? Four years ago, she was still drawing stick figures.
Tricia Albright: I think something’s going on with Dr. Segar. She seemed to be implying in our last meeting that Esther is lying.
Allen Albright: That’s insane. Maybe she needs to see a therapist.
Tricia Albright: I know, right?
Tricia Albright: It seems like since we got Esther back, we got us back too.
Allen Albright: I couldn’t agree more.
Leena: [as Tricia and Allen leave for the party] So what are we going to do?
Gunnar Albright: We?
Gunnar Albright: She’s different, alright. She’s got an accent now. And she dresses like Lizzie Borden. It’s so f***ing weird.
Leena: [shows up behind them] Who’s Lizzie Borden?
Boy: Some crazy chick who killed her parents with an axe.
'There's only one thing worse than the death of a child, and that is a child who is missing.' - Tricia Albright (Orphan: First Kill) Share on X
Gunnar Albright: Esther, this isn’t your scene. Go watch a movie.
Leena: Go f*** yourself.
Girl: Hey, Gunnar, you know what? I like her.
Allen Albright: I just hope the house is still standing. I mean, when I was sixteen, I nearly burnt the house down.
Tricia Albright: No, Gunnar would never do that.
Allen Albright: Who says I’m talking about Gunnar?
Detective Donnan: [to himself] If you’re not Esther, who the hell are you?
Leena: [suddenly Leena stabs him from behind] How did you know that I’m not Esther? Her own mother doesn’t even know.
Detective Donnan: Yeah, kid, she does.
[suddenly Tricia shoots him]
Tricia Albright: [to Leena, after she kills Donnan] So, let me get this straight. You’re a grown-a** woman, and a wanted criminal? That is beyond f***ed up.
Tricia Albright: [referring to Donnan’s dead body] This is all I ever do anymore, by the way. Clean up after my kids. Don’t worry about it. Mommy’ll take care of it. Mommy takes care of everything.
Tricia Albright: [to Leena] You could have robbed us blind, and disappeared the second you had a chance, but you didn’t. Why is that? You’re thinking bigger, right? Play the part, manipulate us, and a year from now we meet with some tragic accident. Am I getting warm?
Leena: Let me go. You’ll never see me again.
Tricia Albright: That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. We can’t have Esther disappear twice now, can we?
Leena: She didn’t disappear.
Tricia Albright: [after revealing Gunnar had killed Esther] What was I supposed to do? Hand over the only child I had left over some sibling bulls**t that went too far? I loved my daughter with all my heart, but a mother protects her family. No matter what. And if you think that I’m going to let some psycho dwarf destroy what I have built, you’re mistaken.
Tricia Albright: We matter. Allen matters. When he got the news Esther was alive, the happiness on his face, I had to make this work.
Leena: Allen doesn’t know what happened to Esther.
Tricia Albright: And you are going to help me make sure that he never does.
Trailer: