ORPHAN: FIRST KILL Will "Shock" Audiences and "It's Not What Most People Will Expect"

When it was announced that the horror thriller Orphan was getting a prequel with Orphan: First Kill, I was curious to see how exactly the story would be told. Esther will be back, and Isabelle Fuhrman is returning to play the character.

Since the film is being made 11 years after the first film, it was explained that “In order to help Fuhrman bring her character to life again, filmmakers are utilizing a combination of forced perspective shooting and a world-class makeup team.”

In Orphan: First Kill, “Leena Klammer (aka Esther) orchestrates a brilliant escape from an Estonian psychiatric facility and travels to America by impersonating the missing daughter of a wealthy family. But Leena’s new life as ‘Esther’ comes with an unexpected wrinkle and pits her against a mother who will protect her family at any cost.”

The mother in the film will be played by Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You, Save the Last Dance, Riviera). In a recent interview with Collider, Fuhrman teases the return of Esther and talks about what we can expect. She says people will be shocked.

“[First Kill is] definitely not what I think most people will expect, which I think is really exciting and what really drew me to even coming back to play that role. And also, what I think is most exciting about it is it’s something that’s never been done cinematically. There’s never been an adult actress who reprised a role she played as child. And that was exceptionally difficult and really fun to do, because when I was a kid and I played Esther, I was constantly playing a 33-year-old hiding herself as a kid while I was also 10, and this time, it was like, ‘here’s a little weight off my shoulders,’ since I just have to pretend I’m 10, because I’m already an adult.”

She went on to say:

“I think people will be shocked by that story. It’s very different from what most people would expect and [Julia Stiles] is absolutely incredible in it, and we had a lot of fun making the movie together. It’s definitely a story about the two of us and our relationship, and Esther’s way that she came to the United States and how she found herself there”

This update has certainly increased my curiosity. I liked the first film and was surprised by how the story unfolded. So, I’m interested in seeing how this next film will end up shocking us because we already know the big twist in Esther’s story.

The movie is being directed by William Brent Bell (The Boy, Separation) from a script written by David Coggeshall (Scream).