Orphan: First Kill Star Teases Shocking Twist in New Prequel

The nature of a prequel of any sort comes with the inherent challenges of knowing where a journey [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

The nature of a prequel of any sort comes with the inherent challenges of knowing where a journey might end, forcing creatives to find ways to take audiences by surprise, with Orphan: First Kill star Julia Stiles recently teasing the prequel manages to pull off that task and deliver audiences an unexpected "twist." Given that the original 2009 Orphan delivered horror fans one of the biggest genre surprises of the year, it sounds as though this new installment found a way to not only pave the way for the events of the debut film, but still offer even the most devout fans some unexpected reveals.

"I do not watch horror movies and when I was sent the script for it I was like, 'I don't know. I'm not into that genre,'" Stiles shared with Collider. "And I was also really worried about going back to work after COVID. And the script was so dang good, I couldn't put it down and I was so surprised by the twist that I'm not gonna give away that I think you'll like it."

The original 2009 film starred Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard as parents who adopt the nine-year-old Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), who goes on to demonstrate bizarre behavior, leading to the reveal that, rather than being a child, she's an adult woman with primordial dwarfism and is merely exploiting families for her own gain.

Stiles did go on to note that, much like the first film, the upcoming prequel leaned more into psychological horror than gore and violence.

"It's incredibly psychological. I'm not really interested in blood and gore," Stiles admitted. "I find it gross, but I don't find it really scary. What I find scary is the stuff that happens up here. And Isabelle Fuhrman's character, Esther -- although she has multiple names, Leena, I don't know -- it's just such a fascinating -- especially now because she's a grown-up. She's 23 now playing the same part. It's just such a fascinating sociopathic character, along the lines of why Norman Bates was so interesting to watch."

With more than a decade having passed since audiences witnessed Fuhrman play the young girl, fans have largely been curious about how she could pass for Esther, with director William Brent Bell previously detailing that he would embrace old-school techniques like forced perspective to pull off the feat.

Stay tuned for details on Orphan: First Kill.

Are you looking forward to the new film? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

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