Plot: Esther escapes to America, posing as the missing daughter of the Albright family. But she soon meets her match in a mother who will do whatever it takes to protect her family.
There's something wrong with Esther. There has always been something wrong with Esther.
Except for a prequel, we still don't see how it all began. We don't see Esther...or should I say, Leena's biological family, nor her breakdown or her actual first kill.
When we meet Esther in the prequel, she is already at the psychiatric facility and everyone is calling her Leena and the most dangerous patient they have there.
Orphan: First Kill starts off with full steam and until the twist is revealed later, is pretty decent.
After the twist reveal, however, everything feels a bit underwhelming and hurried. The climax especially.
The actress Isabelle Fuhrman who played Esther in the original film is no longer a kid and special makeup and camera work was used to make her look like a kid again.
Throughout the movie, there are obvious shots to show that Esther is a small girl, and they tend to stick out. One minute you will find yourself wrapped in Esther's devious plans, the next you are pulled out to show that Esther is really short because of her condition that has stunted her growth.
Apart from all this, Orphan: First Kill is still a thrilling movie that is a worthy prequel to the original.
ORPHAN: FIRST KILL Movie Plot
When Anna, the art therapist arrives at a psychiatric facility, she's really upbeat about her new job and the fact that she will be helping patients.
As luck would have it, her thunder is stolen when a staff member announces that Leena has escaped. The facility goes on lockdown and Anna is told to wait in a room. But that room is not checked for the escaped patient.
Anna sees a little girl sitting at a table and drawing. She may not know who she is but we do.
It's Esther.
Before we can scream at the screen for Anna to run, the staff comes in and tells her that the girl before her is Leena, that dangerous patient who escaped but actually only wanted to wander about and do some drawing.
She's good and even Anna notices that. In a matter of minutes Leena has drawn a decent sketch of Anna.
Leena is taken away and Anna is saved from a pencil stabbing.
The doctors explain about Leena's special condition and how even though she looks like a nine year old girl she's actually thirty and a killer. We see a photo of a family Esther was with but at an angle so we can't make out the face. Maybe the prequel to this movie will be about that family and we will finally get to see Esther's first kill?
Anyway, it is back to business the next day and Anna is monitoring the class of mental patients.
Leena is the only one who can draw well. She turns around and mocks another patient called Idrit by showing her candy. Idrit goes berserk. Clearly, candy is a trigger word. The staff comes to haul Idrit away while Leena openly throws her some candy.
Just how has Leena been acquiring the candy and how is it that she has been training a patient to attack on command without anyone noticing? Clearly, Leena is manipulative and cunning.
Anna is done with the day and heads out while we see the security looking at the screen of Leena's room.
Leena is into watching some classics on a small TV. She looks up to see a security guard watching her and goes over to him. He has a gift for her.
The ribbons Leena is going to wear around her neck and wrists to hide her scars from wearing the strait jacket. The very same ribbons she wears in the original movie as well. They are nice and dark and frilly, just like Leena's personality.
She then calls the guard inside, claiming she will need help to put them on. The guard is clearly a pevert for being seduced by a patient that looks like a little girl. He puts them on her and to thank him, she pushes him against the wall and climbs a chair.
The guard thinks he is getting is reward but what he gets is a good head shake and slam against the wall. Instant blood everywhere.
Leena takes the keys and puts her escape plan in motion. At the exit is another guard but Leena smiles. Idti is right there and she only has to mention candy before she goes on attack mode. The guard never stood a chance.
Leena then rewards her with a treat and calmly heads out.
Anna starts her car and uses the wipers. The snow is swept across the windshield to reveal...Leena. she puts a finger on her lips and vanishes.
When Anna reaches home, she is tricked once again by an open trunk. She enters the house and is attacked by Leena with a crowbar.
Next we see Leena with blood splatters all over her, calmly using Anna's laptop to search for missing girls.
She finds a girl called Esther who has been missing for four years and sort of resembles her. Leena holds up a mirror and checks her and the photo side by side to make sure.
She then finds some girl clothes Anna had, probably belonging to her kid? She makes her famous two ponytails and heads downstairs to see Anna still breathing.
Nope. That won't do. Although Leena does commend her for surving the attack. Most people take one and collapse, she states. Leena uses the crowbar again and gets a splatter of blood on her face. Now she has to go back to wash her face.
All washed up, Leena heads to a park to sit on a swing. A policeman shows up and asks if her parents know where she is. Leena sweetly tells him her parents are in America.
We then meet Tricia and Allen who are moving forward following the disappearance of their daughter. They are wandering about happily after watching their son, Gunnar's fencing match when they spot Detective Donnan waiting for them. Allen is the only one who goes to speak to him but it is Tricia who travels all the way to go meet Esther.
She pretends to be a cheerful little kid and before anyone can blink, Esther is already sent off to America with Tricia. No further investigations necessary.
On the plane, Tricia shows her photos of her family on her phone, remarking how each of them have changed. She shows her a picture of an older woman and Esther remarks how she can't wait to see her. Tricia reminds her that her grandmother is already dead.
Whoops. Esther makes an excuse to go to the bathroom but steals a small bottle of vodka first. Nothing calms her down like a drink and some wall punching. When she emerges she's a sweet little girl again but the stewardess has her suspicions considering she heard Esther bang the walls. Tricia was conveniently listening to music.
At the airport, Esther meets her father and brother Gunnar who isn't too thrilled to have her back. He keeps watching her throughout the car ride.
When she realizes Allen is an artist, she gets smitten, even more so when she sees he uses unique paint to give another layer to his paintings, his USP.
Esther is made to see a therapist who has a bird. She makes a remark about it which the therapist finds odd considering the real Esther was familiar with that bird.
Now Esther has been missing for four years, was thought to be abducted and taken away from the country. Any child would have found this traumatic but it seems people are quick to judge a kid who has returned and throwing questions at her to test her memory. Perhaps trauma could have hindered her ability to remember a bird she knew four years ago?
Of course this isn't the real Esther, but would the real one be expected to remember a bird? Were Esther and this bird best friends?
The therapist sends her away but calls her parents in. Esther knows it is about the slip up and so goes into a room, makes an excuse so that the woman leaves and turns on the speaker so she can hear what the therapist is saying about her.
The therapist explains to Tricia and Allen how Esther didn't recognize her best friend the bird and how everything she did was like she was putting up an act.
Esther gets annoyed and tears off her dress and pretends to have been attacked so they could leave immediately. When they drive off, Esther notices the detective watching her.
At home, Allen shows off his paintings, Esther is impressed and claims she too can draw and that too with charcoal. He too is impressed with Esther.
Tricia spies on the both of them and doesn't look overly pleased. I wonder why....
Tricia has to attend a gala and has a dress ready. She's happy Allen is accompanying her and even more so that he wants to get intimate with her.
Esther watches this with jealousy and rips off Tricia's dress. Not to worry, Tricia has another dress ready.
They head off outside leaving Gunnar in charge. Esther tries to talk to Gunnar who pretty much tells her he isn’t interested in any bonding exercise and calls up his friends home. Esther is stuck in her room watching other people have fun. She tries to join in only for Gunnar to tell her to go away which makes Esther use an expletive.
The detective comes calling and asks Gunnar if he's using illegal stuff. Gunnar is pretty cavalier when he says nope. The detective pretends he has to go to the bathroom but actually goes snooping looking for samples in Esther's bathroom. He then leaves with a sample.
Esther notices all of this and isn’t happy. She follows the detective home.
Tricia and Allen return. Tricia decides to do yer own little snooping and goes into Esther's room. She suspects the girl who wouldn't let her touch the ribbon on her neck. She finds a book in the secret compartment on the side of the bed and finds a photo of her and Allen with her crossed out. The book belongs to the Saarne Institute. And she finds the address of the detective written down.
Meanwhile the detective is running prints and finds that Esther and the girl they found don't have the same fingerprints. His suspicions are proven right but the detective isn't very careful with locking doors because fake Esther has found her way in and attacks him.
Esther stabs him several times and asks him how he had guessed she wasn't Esther to which he replies that Tricia knows it too.
Before Esther can digest this piece of information, he is shot multiple times.
It's time for the twist. Esther turns around to see Tricia standing behind her with a gun.
Tricia asks her to help her dispose off the body while she sends an email from the detective's laptop claiming he wants a break and is taking a holiday.
While they dump the detective in a hole, Tricia explains how she already knew Esther wasn't her daughter Esther. After all the real Esther is dead. Gunnar accidentally killed her.
Tricia forcefully makes Esther help her all the while explaining how she will go to any lengths to save her family amd just because her son made one mistake while the siblings were playing around, doesn’t mean she's going to condemn him to a life in prison.
She also gets Esther pink ribbons to wear around her neck and wrists and helps her bandage her chest so that she can still play being a little girl.
Esther isn’t too pleased with being manipulated and Gunnar is even more displeased that Esther now knows their secrets. Tricia assures him they have the upperhand.
They may not know Esther but we do. We have learned in the original movie that the last family she was with died in a fire. And we did see the house go up in flames in the trailer.
Be careful Tricia...
Tricia feeds Esther information about all the things the real Esther would have known. She meets the therapist again who gets impressed with her.
Gunnar tries to be mean to her and is rewarded by two slaps from Esther.
Allen keeps trying to impress Esther with his blacklight paintings. Esther is impressed and she is definitely going to use that technique soon...with her new family...in the original movie.
Tricia isn't too pleased and reminds Esther that no matter what Allen wasn't going to reciprocate her feelings. Esther gets pissed off and Tricia decides she needs to do something about it.
For dinner, she makes Esther a special dish, Mac and cheese and drugs. Esther has her suspicions because the rest of the family is eating something else. She gets annoyed and gets up to go. Tricia reminds her to take her plate with her.
Esther is too annoyed to eat and gives it to the only friend she has in her house, a mouse.
The house may be clean, the Albright's may be rich, but they clearly have a vermin problem. Did no one hear the squeaking? Did they really let their daughter have a room with a mouse running about in the vents?
The mouse is happy with his treat and goes about happily munching it.
But the poor mouse doesn't realize he's having his last meal. He dies and Esther pokes him to make sure he really is dead before getting pissed off.
Tricia took away her only friend here. How dare she!
The next morning, Esther has prepared breakfast for everyone amd a special kale smoothie for Tricia. Tricia can guess why her smoothie must be special and tries every excuse to not drink it. Fat chance. Allen persuades her to take a sip and she does.
But it isn't only kale and a whole load of healthy stuff she's tasting. She dumps the smoothie in the sink and that is when she sees the dead mouse.
She gags and off the mouse goes into the waste disposal. Yuck!
That little incident pisses off Tricia and she tricks her husband to leave behind so that she and Esther can bond as they don't have anything in common.
Esther tries to use her sweetest girly voice to ask Allen to take her, but he's says, nope. He's finally getting to take a trip all by himself and he is in a hurry to do it.
ORPHAN: FIRST KILL Ending Explained with Spoilers!
Tricia, Gunnar and Esther are at the train station when Esther decides to end the two by pushing them on the tracks. But her plan is thwarted by an old man who bumps into her at the last second.
The train whizzes past but Tricia knows what Esther was up to. She drags her along but she uses a pepper spray on Gunnar and manages to free herself from Tricia and take her car keys. Off she goes in a car.
Considering she spent most of her time in mental facilities, Esther has a pretty good handle on the car. She even wears Tricia's sun glasses and uses her cigarettes. She's just about enjoying her getaway when the police pull her over.
Esther tries to pretend to be a grown up but the policewoman has recognized her and tells her she is going to take her back home as her mother is looking for her.
When she is returned home, Tricia tells Esther she is done with her. Gunnar and Esther get into a fight which results in him pushing her down the stairs.
Tricia didn't want Esther's life to end that way but decides "so be it". While they are discussing, the camera moves away from Esther so we know what is going to happen next.
Esther has disappeared. She has survived a fall down the stairs without a scratch or bruise.
Tricia sends Gunnar to go look for Esther. He finds her in a room and before he can do much, Esther stabs him repeatedly.
Tricia comes over and is shocked. They tussle and somehow the kitchen catches fire and starts to spread.
The two end up on the roof just as Allen arrives. The two then hang off the roof and Allen is given a choice as to whom to save first. Tricia tells him Esther is not his daughter while Esther keeps sweetly calling him daddy.
Before Allen can put much thought on whom to save first, Tricia falls and hits her head on the pavement.
Allen pulls up Esther and while he is cuddling her, notices her teeth move.
Oops. In the next second, Allen goes flying off the roof and lands into a heap next to Tricia.
Esther plays the hapless victim as the police and fire engines arrive.
We then see her with her therapist who explains that poor Esther is an orphan now and needs to be put in an adoption home.
Esther smiles a little for us before scowling to show that she is still the same menacing Esther who is going to destroy the happiness of another family.
The movie ends.
Now Esther was seen drowned in the original movie. Is there a chance she survived that? She did survive a fall down the stairs and a fire and a whole lot of things.
It will be interesting to see Esther's adventures. She does make a fine villain.
Comments
Post a Comment