Match Highlights:

Match Highlights:

Orphan (2009) - Emotional Family Drama Meets Tense Psychological Thriller - 9/10

Orphan is an emotional, gripping and tense psychological thriller that has aged very well and has ultimately even got a prequel thirteen years later. The film revolves around a little family consisting of mother Kate who has just lost her stillborn baby daughter, her empathic but gullible husband John, their slightly arrogant and hostile son Daniel and their intelligent and sympathetic daughter Max. After the loss of the stillborn daughter, the parents decide to adopt nine-year old Esther who impresses the father with her outstanding painting skills and the mother with her seemingly mild manners. While Max starts seeing her older sister as her new best friend, son Daniel finds her old-fashioned dresses strange to say the least. Mysterious events start to occur when Esther joins the family such as the brutal injury of one of her classmates or the stunning disappearance of a sister who had been working at the orphanage. While John thinks that those strange occurrences are mere coincidences, Kate starts having doubts and begins her own dangerous investigations.

This movie convinces on numerous levels. First and foremost, the acting performances are absolutely outstanding. Isabelle Fuhrmann incarnates Esther with much authenticity, depth and mystery as she qualifies as one of the greatest child actresses of all time. Among the adults, Vera Farmiga convincingly plays a tormented mother suffering from the loss of her stillborn daughter and her alcohol addiction while she is progressively being judged and abandoned by everyone around her. Her excellent acting skills add elements of the drama genre to this tense psychological thriller.

Speaking of the covered genres, this movie might be halfway between a family drama and a psychological thriller. It explores convincingly how a seemingly happy family is gradually falling apart while facing more and more shocking and traumatizing challenges and incidents. On the other side, the film also portrays how an extremely dangerous psychopath creates an environment of distrust, isolation and ultimately relentless violence. The movie starts on a relatively innocent tone but gets more tense with every scene as it culminates with a shocking finale. There is also an alternative ending that might be even more surprising that is worth being discovered for sure.

The story of this movie is certainly very interesting to follow. It's obvious from the start that something is wrong with adopted daughter Esther. She speaks strangely, she dresses weirdly and she has sudden violent outbursts. The movie progressively reveals more details about her that make viewers realize that she is more than a troubled child having issues adapting to her new environment. The movie's final twist is quite haunting and memorable in that regard and should keep viewers on the edges of their seats until the credits will start rolling.

As you can read, Orphan offers a wonderful combination of a family drama and a psychological thriller with a clever plot and outstanding acting performances. The only reason why this movie doesn't get the perfect grade is because the final twist shouldn't be too surprising for genre fans. Nevertheless, anyone appreciating tense slow-burn dramas or thrillers should definitely give this movie and its surprisingly convincing prequel a shot.

Orphan: First Kill (2022) - The Result Was Worth the Risk - 8/10

Orphan: First Kill is a prequel to family drama and psychological horror thriller Orphan that was released to positive acclaim thirteen years earlier. If you haven't watched the first film yet, don't bother because it actually makes more sense to watch the prequel first and then the original movie.

Releasing a prequel after thirteen long years is a risky affair. The most stunning decision is that actress Isabelle Fuhrmann retakes her role from the original movie, meaning that she is now playing a younger character than in the original film released thirteen years ago. Even though reviews have been rather mixed regarding those decisions, I must admit that the filmmakers have pulled off this stunt quite spectacularly. With intelligent camera angles, excellent make-up and stunning visual effects, Isabelle Fuhrmann looks indeed stunningly similar to the character she incarnated one and a half decades earlier.

This film's story revolves around the origins of villainous antagonist Leena Klammer, the patient of a mental facility called Saarne Institute in Estonia. Even though the patient looks like a female child, she is actually a woman in her thirties who is considered particularly dangerous to herself and anyone around her. One day, she manages to escape from the facility by manipulating other inmates and murdering her art therapist. She then takes on the identity of missing child Esther Coleman and gets transferred to her family in the United States of America. Leena Klammer tries to make everyone believe that she is indeed Esther Coleman but while some people like the family father are rather gullible, others such as an investigating police officer remain suspicious. Soon enough, the web of lies that the antagonist has been building up is falling apart and leading to a dramatic series of events.

This unexpected prequel convinces on numerous levels. First and foremost, the locations have been chosen with care. The isolated snowy landscapes, the creepy basements and narrow alleys in Estonia are very efficient. The dark, elegant and spacious settings in the United States of America provide a different sort of atmosphere.

Up next, the special effects in this film are particularly outstanding despite a modest budget. Lead actress Isabelle Fuhrmann looks at least two decades younger than she actually is. This movie also includes some truly creative paintings with hidden special effects. The final sequence is also worth being explored on a big screen.

The story deserves much praise as well. Even though viewers who are familiar with the original film might already know a few elements that might reduce this film's tension, this movie still comes around with a few fresh ideas. The way the antagonist breaks out of her mental asylum is quite spectacular. The sections where the antagonist desperately tries to develop efficient strategies at convincing her surroundings that she is a mysteriously vanished teenager are quite intense. Most importantly however, this film comes around with a major unexpected twist in the middle section that will leave a lasting impression.

Finally, the acting performances are also stellar. Rossif Sutherland convinces as broken, gullible and inspired family father. Julia Stiles shines as cold, intelligent and manipulative family mother. Matthew Finlan delivers the goods as arrogant, pitiless and superficial teenager. Needless to say that Isabelle Fuhrmann is the greatest actress in this film and shines as dangerous, intelligent and pitiless psychopath who is equally intriguing and repulsive.

At the end of the day, Orphan: First Kill is a prequel of a surprisingly great quality thanks to fitting locations, clever special effects, fresh plot elements and convincing acting efforts. This movie is therefore much better than its average reputation. It's entertaining from start to finish and certainly everything but tedious. If you haven't watched any of the Orphan movies thus far, please make sure to watch Orphan: First Kill initially before concluding with Orphan. This new film has actually been so inspiring that I'm now hoping for another prequel explaining how Leena Klammer ended up at Saarne Institute in the first place.

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