Isabelle Fuhrman, who in “Orphan” had to be convincing as a child of age 9, reprises her role 13 years later in this prequel set two years earlier.
While no classic, “Orphan” (2009), starring Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard as parents to a homicidal adoptee, deserves a place in the pantheon of bad-seed thrillers, both for Farmiga’s commitment to the assignment and one jolt so outrageously fatuous it somehow plays as brilliant.
Now there is “Orphan: First Kill,” a belated prequel with a different director (the flat-footed William Brent Bell instead of the first movie’s Jaume Collet-Serra). Looking like it was shot on a cheap video format, it lacks the original’s scares and suavity, apart from an early escape set piece designed to resemble a fluid take. But the sheer derangement of its plot and a bizarre casting gambit make it more interesting than standard straight-to-streaming schlock.
Start with the casting: How could Isabelle Fuhrman, who 13 years ago had to be convincing as a child of age 9, reprise the role in her 20s, on the heels of her acclaimed turn as a monomaniacal college rower in “The Novice”? Through a combination of doubles, stagecraft and sly tricks with framing and optics — Fuhrman’s face and feet are almost never clearly seen in the same shot — the filmmakers have metamorphosed her within license.
The actress’s resurrection of her murderous character — who here sometimes edges into camp, playing piano with bloody hands or swigging vodka in an airplane lavatory — may be the movie’s most grounded aspect. The plot, set in 2007, follows Leena (as her real name turned out to be) as she worms her way from Estonia to Connecticut, where she impersonates the missing child of an affluent couple (Julia Stiles and Rossif Sutherland).
If “Orphan” was an unlikely showcase for Farmiga, “Orphan: First Kill” gives red meat to Stiles, who plays a protective mother with surprising gusto.
Orphan: First Kill
Rated R. Kills, none of them Leena’s first. Running time: 1 hour 39 minutes. Watch on Paramount+.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
