The scary movie Orphan came out 13 years ago, but this tale of a seemingly innocent little girl in a dress killing her father with multiple stab wounds still lives very vividly in the audience's mind. It's haunting enough that even all these years later, a prequel is highly anticipated. The movie surprised everyone with its incredible atmosphere and terrifying plot twists, and though Orphan received some mixed reviews from critics, it is considered a modern horror staple by fans. Now, viewers will be transported into Esther's dark past with Orphan: First Kill set to be released August 19th this year.
The 2009 movie was based on a true story that is even more disturbing than the movie. The incidents became known as the Barbora Skrlová case. There were numerous changes to the narrative when the film was made, which is to be expected. The main element of the story, an adult pretending to be a child being adopted by a family and doing horrible things to them, remains the same. Orphan tells the story of a married couple that recently lost a child during pregnancy. They have two other kids but ultimately want one thing: to have a bigger family. That's when they meet Esther at an orphanage, a nine-year-old girl who appears to be everything they wished for. They will soon realize that nothing is what it seems, and Esther is one to be feared, not loved.
Esther gave a new meaning to how scary children in horror movies can be. Here is why the movie was so terrifying and why her prequel story is so anticipated by fans even after so many years of the movie’s release.
Horror Movies and Children
Every horror fan knows something dangerous is about to happen when children appear in a scary story; the child will either be threatened, or become the threat. So, when the movie Orphan was released, there was no doubt it would use this scary tope. There are certain other tropes that the film utilizes which are well known in the genre, such as 'The Crazy Woman' (when a woman tries to warn people about something and everyone ignores her, deeming her unstable or unreliable). Orphan is clever with these horror movie clichés, inducing the audience into believing the expected and then delivering the unexpected.
Children in horror movies usually have some form of connection with the supernatural. They are the ones who get possessed, maybe the ones who can hear the ghosts at night, or even worse, the ones with imaginary friends who ask them to do horrible things. When Esther first appears in the orphanage, there isn't anything apparently wrong with her; on the contrary, she seems too perfect to be true. Then the audience discovers she carries a very antiquated bible (red flag!) and wears vintage clothes (double red flag!). The viewer is quickly misled, and there is nothing supernatural about this story. The fact that Orphan swerved away from the supernatural, instead basing itself on a true story and the grisly, all-too-true horrors of real life, helps ground the movie in reality and make it more terrifying.
Also, the protagonist's kids discover the truth about Esther before anyone else. They create the distress the audience feels when watching the movie. They are powerless when confronting her, and still, they try to stop her and save everyone - even if this happens after they were manipulated by her. Ultimately, they are what prevent Esther to harm the family sooner, and having the kids play this role in a film with a hard R-rating is surprisingly refreshing.
Plot Twists in Orphan
Great plot twists, if used wisely, can enhance the story; if fumbled, they can make a movie entirely unrealistic and stupid. Because this device became so popular (especially after the films of M. Night Symalan), sometimes it feels there is a need for it to happen. That leads to poorly executed plot twists that come out of nowhere. Scary movies suffer a lot from this problem: relying too much on twists and changes that don't add to the story and don't really make sense overall.
Orphan is not like that. The movie is well constructed and gives just enough hints without giving everything away, so that your mind is blown when you find out the truth about Esther, but you don't feel cheated. One of the main reasons why the movie was so scary was because of how grounded in reality the plot twists (and really the entire movie) were, as mentioned; the two go hand in hand.
Esther in Orphan: A Complex Character
Esther is a complex character with a deep backstory that was not explored to its full potential in the movie. She is such a violent and brutal person that getting a chance to look at what made her the way she is and do the things she does is really exciting. In the trailer for the new movie, the viewer can see her panting and trying new things (violent ones, of course) that she was very good at in Orphan. There is always a fascination with understanding what makes the characters tick in horror, especially when it comes to the really disturbing ones.
Another element that is making viewers eager to watch the new movie is that Esther is being played by the same actress: Isabelle Fuhrman. It is exciting to see the actress coming back to the role so many years later, especially after a career excelling in great horror roles (from Don't Let Me Go and Down a Dark Hall to her great recent movie The Last Thing Mary Saw. They did use CGI to make her look younger since the actress is now 25 years old. In the trailer, it appears that they didn't overdo it and instead allowed the eeriness of someone who looks older and tries to appear to be a child - which is exactly what the character is doing.
Orphan disturbed audiences 13 years ago, and now Esther is back once again. Orphan: First Kill will bring the past to the present, alongside one of the most feared children in modern horror movies.