History Film / Orphan

* GroinAttack: Esther threatens Daniel to do one on him with a box cutter at one point.

In February 2020, a prequel named ''Esther'' was announced. Production was slated to begin in summer 2020, but was halted due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic until November, when the prequel was officially renamed ''Orphan: First Kill''. Fuhrman has been confirmed to be reprising her role, joined by Creator/JuliaStiles and Rossif Sutherland (''Series/{{Reign}}'', ''Film/Trench11'').

* AdultFear: Discovering that your child (adopted or otherwise) is not only a violent sociopath willing to hurt others without remorse, including your other children, but so skilled at manipulating and charming the people around them that nobody believes you when you voice your concerns about them. In fact, they think ''you're'' crazy.

In an attempt to find an alternative outlet of love meant for their stillborn child, the Colemans take in a mysterious 9-year-old Russian orphan called Esther (Creator/IsabelleFuhrman) into their family. Max, in her innocence, is ecstatic to finally have a big sister; Daniel is less than enthusiastic due to the bullying he receives at school from her eccentricities.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[spoiler: The girl with the broken ankle happens first, but Creator/CCHPounder plays the first fatality.]]

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The movie was supposed to take place in the fall, but a record snow fall hitting the filming location during filming changed this to the winter, in turn eliminating a scene in the script at a Halloween carnival at Danny and Esther's school. Some might say the winter atmosphere helped make the movie more creepy.

* ArmorPiercingSlap: At the hospital, after Esther attempts to kill Daniel, Kate knows it's her doing and confronts her, slapping her so hard Esther falls. Even if Kate gets restrained and sedated afterwards, Esther does genuinely looks scared of her for a second.

* TheCavalryArrivesLate: After Kate calls them after learning the truth about Esther, they arrived in record time only to find [[spoiler: John stanbed death and Esther missing]].

* MrExposition: Dr. Värava, who reveals to Kate and the audience Esther's real identity and past.

* CassandraTruth: In spades. Kate and Danny know something is wrong with Esther, but have no evidence to back it up.
* ChekhovsGun: Several. The revolver, Max's hearing aids, the treehouse key, the second bottle of wine, and of course, Esther's paintings.

** Esther: "I know, they fuck."

* SoundtrackDissonance: A cheery rendition of "The Glory of Love" plays over a disturbing, UV paint-splattered credits reel.

* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: Max by the end of the film. [[CuteMute Poor thing.]]]]

* BrokenBird: Following her baby's stillbirth [[spoiler: and Max's accident due to her alcoholism]], Kate becomes emotionally unstable.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: Max, so much that you'll want to hug her from her very first scene. [[AvertedTrope The same]] [[EnfanteTerrible cannot be said]] [[KidsAreCruel for anyone else.]]

* CuteMute: Max. She's so adorable that you'll just want to hug her.
* TheCutie: Again, Max.

* TookALevelInBadass: [[BadassAdorable Max]] at the end where she takes the revolver and was gonna shoot Esther in order to protect her mother. Oh, and did we mention she's only ''5 years old''?

* AdultsAreUseless: John. Definitely.
* TheAlcoholic: Kate, formerly. Esther exploits this by showing John the bottle of wine she bought the previous day and making it look like Kate relapsed, making it harder for him to believe her when she says Esther is dangerous.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Has much of a dick John can be, he's absolutely horrified and disgusted when [[spoiler:Esther tries to seduce him]].

* HeroWithBadPublicity: Due to her known miscarriage-induced emotional instability, Kate is painted as a bad parent towards Esther by others, despite Kate noticing something is not right with the latter.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Danny is maybe a brat, but he cares about his sister Max.

* MamaBear: Kate might have problems, but she ''really'' loves her children. After Esther attempts to smother Daniel with a pillow, she ''knows'' it's her doing and proceeds to '''slap the shit out of her''' and has to be held back by orderlies so she doesn't keep attacking her. Later during the climax of the movie, Kate yells at Esther not to hurt Max and throws her away when Esther is about to attack them in the woods.

* NeverMyFault: John had committed adultery in the past when Kate was at a mental low point, but he never seemed to accept responsibility for it.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Danny isn't seen from the rest of the movie after being nearly killed by Esther. Though he survives since the doctors state he has a pulse.
* WidowWoman: [[spoiler:Kate ends up at this at the end following John's death.]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: General Tropes]]

* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Subverted. Danny shoots a pigeon with his paintball gun, but is [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone absolutely horrified]] when he sees that it's seriously hurt. And then instantly played straight when Esther smashes the bird with a rock, killing it instantly.
* BigBrotherBully: Danny is this towards Esther at first, even before realizing something isn't right with her.[[spoiler: This later turns out to be a case of BullyingADragon once her true nature is revealed.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: Danny may not like ''Esther,'' but he cares enough about his little sister, Max, to go to her room and and ask if Esther has hurt her, promising that they'll talk to their parents about it. Unfortunately, Esther is standing outside the door and listening the entire time...

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes that concern Esther]]
* AbusiveParents: Forms part of her [[RapeAsBackstory backstory]] in the original script, [[FreudianExcuse explaining why she is so screwed up]]. [[spoiler: After her birth mother died of AIDS, she was sexually abused by her father from a very early age, which left her unable to have children of her own. When her father eventually took a lover, he told Leena that it was because of her condition and the fact that she could never be a real woman. Leena murdered them both and was sent to the Saarne Institute as a result.]] [[spoiler: Because of that, upon tricking a family into adopting her, she would constantly try to find love where she thought she had it as a child - [[ParentalIncest with the father.]]]]
* AgeInappropriateDress: At one point, she attempts to seduce John wearing a cocktail dress and a face full of heavy makeup, only for John being horrified because no matter what she wears, she's still his ''adoptive daughter''. [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted upon the reveal of her true age.]]
* AxCrazy: As stated by [[spoiler:Dr. Värava, Leena was the most violent patient in the mental hospital, always trying to hurt the other patients and staff, resulting in the majority of her time being spent in a straightjacket. Her signature scars came from trying to break out of it.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: She can be polite and charming, but it's all just an act. She starts dropping the act more and more as the film goes on.
* BloodIsTheNewBlack: [[spoiler: Her face is covered in blood when she kills Sister Abigail and when fighting Kate over the frozen pond.]]
* BrainyBrunette: While her WiseBeyondTheirYears tendencies are justified [[spoiler: by the fact she is not an actual child, even as an adult, her RenaissanceMan and EvilGenius skills are pretty impressive.]]
* ChildProdigy: At first she appears to be an incredibly gifted, talented, and mature young girl, if a bit weird. [[spoiler: As it turns out though, she [[OlderThanTheyLook isn't isn't really a young girl]] at all.]]
* ChronicVillainy: Esther might be scarily intelligent for a nine-year-old, but that doesn't at all make her a competent criminal. Her crimes are impulsive and myopic, with Esther taking [[MurderIsTheBestSolution heinous, sometimes homicidal measures]] to give her immediate relief from problems any sane adult knows could solved in more mundane ways. [[spoiler:Made all the more disturbing after TheReveal.]]
* ClingyJealousGirl: Towards [[spoiler: her adoptive father John, to the point where she resorts to attempted murder and manipulation to have him all to herself]].
* CoolBigSis: Deconstructed. She at first appears to be a loving big sister figure to Max, but she gradually shows she isn't above including Max in her messed up schemes or even harming her. But when you realize [[spoiler:Leena can't have children due to her dwarfism rending her sterile]], it makes sense at her acting like a "big sister" [[spoiler:due to the fact she'll never have children, something she always wanted to have]]. Even as Max is aware of her true colors, Esther acts like a mother would, hugging her and kissing her forehead. The "big sister" face officially goes out the window once Esther hits her VillainousBreakdown and tries to kill Max when she [[spoiler:witnessed her killing John]].
* CreepyChild: [[spoiler: Subverted, since she's really thirty-three years old. She's still way creepy, though.]]
* CuteAndPsycho: Appears to be a charming and polite little girl...[[spoiler: but she's really a dangerous adult sociopath.]]
* DarkActionGirl: Perfectly able to fight and kill people who get in her way.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: In the original script, her past was explained more in depth. [[spoiler: Leena's mother died when she was young, and her father sexually abused her her whole childhood, rending her infertile. She was diagnosed with hypopituitarism, a rare hormonal disorder that caused proportional dwarfism, making her stuck in the body of a child. Once her father found a new lover, he told her she'd never be a real woman, which caused her to go insane and killed her father and his girlfriend in rage. She was then sent to the Saarne Institute, where she was kept in a straightjacket that gave her scars due to being too violent. She escaped, and turned to prostitution to find love through pedophiles. Once she was arrested, she pretended to be a child and was sent to an orphanage. Ever since, Leena tries to find love through her adoptive fathers, since it's all she's ever known, but is always rejected due to looking like a child.]]
* DarkIsEvil: Aside from her dark hair, her clothes tend to be dark-colored in later scenes of the movie, especially after her dark nature is revealed.
* DepravedDwarf: [[spoiler: Her true identity is a 33-year-old woman who, due to a rare hormone disorder, is stuck in the body of a young girl. She desperately wishes to "grow up" and become a wife, mother, and lover - by any means necessary.]]
* DeathGlare: Creator/IsabelleFuhrman is an absolute ''champion'' at those.
* {{Determinator}}: Put it this way: if this girl wants something in her favor, she will do all she can to ensure it. Up to and including ''breaking her own arm'' as a WoundedGazelleGambit.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: To Kate's Protagonist and Max's Tritagonist. Kate is the point of view character, Esther is her main foil/antagonist, and surprisingly CuteMute little child Max ends up outshining both her father and brother throughout the movie.
* TheDogBitesBack: In the original script where she [[spoiler:kills her incestuous father]].
* DropTheHammer: Uses a claw hammer to murder [[spoiler: Sister Abigail.]]
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: She has dark brown hair, pale skin, and an overall creepy demeanor.
* EnfantTerrible: [[spoiler: The "enfant" part is averted, however, after the reveal]].
* EvilGenius: Vicious, but extremely intelligent. Her talents include piano playing, painting, and manipulation.
* EvilOrphan: What she ''really'' is. [[spoiler: Even after TheReveal, she may still qualify, considering she ''[[SelfMadeOrphan murdered her own father]]''.]]
* TheFakeCutie: Could be the poster girl for this trope. She acts sweet and innocent on the outside, [[spoiler: but is dangerous and violent on the inside]].
* FauxAffablyEvil: She can be nice when she wants to be, but it's all just an act.
* FilleFatale: [[spoiler: Or so you think, since you know, she's not a child after all.]]
* FreakOut: After her appointment with Dr. Browning, Esther locks herself in a toilet stall and proceeds to kick and the walls of the stall while screaming hysterically. [[spoiler: It makes sense that at that moment, she fears Dr. Browning and her adoptive parents discovering her secret]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Esther's fixation her father is noticeable very early on in the film, but doesn't take a sinister turn until much later.
* ForTheEvulz: She spends the [[spoiler:final shootout trying to kill the harmless Max, ignoring the more looming threat of Kate above her. By the time she tries to amend this, it's too late.]]
* FreudianThreat: Also doubles as {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: Being an adult woman with sexual abuse in her past, of course Esther knows what a man's genitals are for]].
--> '''Esther:''' ''(holding a box cutter between Danny's legs)'' If I find out that you're lying, I'll cut your hairless little prick off before you even figure out what it's for.
* GirlishPigtails: She's seen wearing pigtails several times (most notably during the hospital scene) [[spoiler:to add to her innocent little girl facade.]]
* HairTriggerTemper: She has a terrifying temper that she hides from the Coleman family [[spoiler: at first]].
* HarmfulToMinors: Oh boy, where to start.[[spoiler: After murdering Sister Abigail, Esther forces Max to help her move the body and hide the evidence, threatens Daniel into keeping quiet about what he saw, later sets his treehouse on fire with him inside in an attempt to kill him.]] [[spoiler: As if that isn't enough, she also attempts to smother Daniel in the hospital]] [[spoiler: and tries to kill Max after her identity as Leena is revealed.]]
* HeartwarmingOrphan: Exploited by Esther to have the Colemans adopt her, [[EvilOrphan as it couldn't be far away from the truth]].
* IfICantHaveYou: [[spoiler: When John fails to give into her advances, she decides to kill him and the rest of the Coleman family. The doctor that informs Kate of Esther's true identity tells her that she did a similar thing with another adoptive family.]]
* IJustWantToBeLoved: Her ultimate objective, who unfortunately always fails due to [[spoiler:Leena being a 33 year old dwarf stuck in a 9 year old body, causing her to be always rejected by men due to her child appearance and never being able to find a loving and stable relationship with a man]].
* KickTheDog:
** Esther cutting the flowers that Kate and John's stillborn child's ashes were scattered over and presenting them to the former in a bouquet.
** Esther reading excerpts from Kate's diary (regarding her miscarriage) out loud.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: On Esther's first day of school, a girl named Brenda makes fun of her. Later, Esther comes up behind Brenda and shoves her off the slide, breaking her ankle.
* KnifeNut: [[spoiler: She stabs John to death with a knife and later tries to do the same with Kate and Max.]]
* LightIsNotGood:
** Esther happens to be a good example of this, being that she seems to be a sweet and innocent girl on the outside, but is a [[spoiler: psychotic, sociopathic, 33-year-old serial killer on the inside]]. This is reflected in her style of dress as she starts off the film wearing light-colored clothing, but as her darker nature is revealed, her dresses reflect that. [[spoiler: This is most notable in the scene where she tries to seduce John wearing a black cocktail dress, and then after her reveal as Leena, a dark shirt and pants for the rest of the film.]]
** Her paintings add to this as well. At first glance, they're the work of a talented young prodigy. [[spoiler: But when viewed under black lighting, they reveal dark and disturbing characteristics.]]
* LittleBlackDress: See AgeInappropriateDress.
* LoveHungry: Esther[[spoiler:/Leena]] [[spoiler: [[IJustWantToBeLoved wants to be loved so badly]] that she is willing to lie, manipulate, and kill to get what she wants.]]
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Justified once you realize [[spoiler: she can't get a real relationship with a man due to being an adult stuck in a child's body.]] Of course it'd get frustrating. Unfortunately, she's an AxCrazy sociopath...
* MadArtist: She is very skilled in painting, which is how the Colemans first notice her at the orphanage. [[spoiler: However, she uses a black light to represent her true nature.]]
* ManipulativeBitch: Was very successful in manipulating the entire family into thinking that she is a sweet and innocent little girl, to the point where it causes a rift in John and Kate's marriage. Danny is the only one who doesn't buy it.
* MeaningfulName: Her real name, [[spoiler:Leena]], means "she that allures". Which fits her to a T considering she [[spoiler:only wants to be loved and tries seducing her adoptive father to get to that goal]].
* MurderTheHypotenuse: All of Esther's actions in this film have in mind the [[spoiler: ultimate death of Kate, Danny '''and'' Max so that she can have John all to herself]].
* TheNapoleon: [[spoiler: Leena Klammer is a grown woman trapped in the body of a child, and it disgusts her. Her ultimate goal is to "grow up" and become what she views as a "real woman."]]
* NeckSnap: [[spoiler: How she dies at the end of the film when Kate kicks her into the icy water.]]
* NotGoodWithRejection: [[spoiler: She killed her adoptive fathers when they refused her advances, along with the other family members, before burning down their houses.]] [[spoiler: She succeeds in doing the same with John, but is killed by Kate before she can harm the rest of the Colemans.]]
* NothingNiceAboutSugarAndSpice: She is a Deliberately Cute Child in little Victorian dresses and pigtails - and [[spoiler:she's also a grown woman who's plotting to massacre her new family so she can have the father all to herself.]]
* ObfuscatingStupidity: In early scenes, she pretends to be unable to play piano and accepts Kate's lessons.
* OlderThanTheyLook: [[spoiler: She may appear to be nine years old, but she is really a psychotic thirty-three-year old serial killer suffering from a hormonal disorder that keeps her stuck in the body of a young girl.]]
* ParentalIncest: [[spoiler: Her main goal is to have a romantic relationship with John and her previous adoptive fathers.]] [[spoiler: In the original script, this is because she was sexually abused by her birth father and made to believe this was normal.]]
* PintsizedPowerhouse: Despite her short stature, she is frighteningly violent.
* PrecisionFStrike: "I know, they fuck."
* PyroManiac: Before Daniel can tell Kate and John about [[spoiler: Esther killing Sister Abigail]], she sets fire to his treehouse with him inside. [[spoiler: After murdering her prior adoptive families, she also burned down their houses to hide the evidence.]]
* PsychopathicWomanchild: [[spoiler: Has a touch of this in her VillainousBreakdown near the climax of the movie, and it helps that she looks like a child on top of that. She also expresses her desires much like a young child would through her paintings, including ones of the Colemans dying in ways that vary from the horrific to the cartoonish.]]
* RapeAsBackstory: Look at AbusiveParents and DarkAndTroubledPast.
* RedRightHand: [[spoiler: Even though she's only in her thirties, Leena has a set of rotten teeth hidden by a pair of dentures.]]
* RenaissanceMan: A twisted example. She is talented at painting, a piano virtuoso, presumably trilingual and immediately able to learn sign language to communicate with a deaf girl, and also able to use manipulation and violence to hurt and kill people who cross her. She is good at almost everything [[spoiler:except seducing men.]]
* ReplacementGoldfish: The Coleman family '''really''' should have just gotten a puppy.
* RoomFullOfCrazy: Done rather creatively. Look at all those pretty paintings she made! Wait... Oh dear God...
* ScarsAreForever: Those ribbons around her neck and wrists aren't just for show. [[spoiler:They hide the scars she received while struggling against her straightjacket in the mental hospital.]]
* TheScream: Esther lets out a bloodcurdling one when Brenda touches her ribbons.
* SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl: A very polite girl who likes to wear old-fashioned dresses, even at school. [[spoiler: She drops them by the end of the movie when she tries to seduce John wearing a slinky black cocktail dress and heavy makeup.]]
* SelfMadeOrphan: In the original script, [[spoiler:Leena killed her incestuous father and her step mother]].
* SensualSlavs: Horribly deconstructed. [[spoiler: Thanks to a combination of deformity and sexual frustration, the only reason Esther/Leena goes in and out of foster homes is because she wants to seduce the father of the family adopting her. When it invariably fails, she has a nervous breakdown and kills everyone. Rinse and repeat.]] [[spoiler: Oh, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking she is actually]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Estonia}} Estonian]] , not Russian, so she is not Slavic anyway.]]
* SerialKiller: She kills her adoptive families after [[spoiler:the father always refuses her advances]]. According to Dr. Värava, she killed at least 7 people that they know of, including a foster family.
* SheKnowsTooMuch: The reason Esther tries to kill Max, who's the only one she hasn't directly hurt before, is when she [[spoiler:witnessed John's death at Esther's hands]].
* SignificantBirthDate: According to [[spoiler: her records at the mental hospital]], she was born on April 20th, thus sharing a birthday with [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler another murderous nutcase]].
* SlasherSmile: She smiles with great delight watching the treehouse burn with Daniel still inside. It's very disturbing.
* StepfordSmiler: Unstable, and ''how''.
* TheSociopath: Definitely. She is very manipulative, able to [[spoiler: use makeup, bindings, and false teeth to trick people into thinking she is a normal nine-year-old girl instead of an adult with a hormone disorder]]. [[spoiler: She also causes a rift in John and Kate's marriage by playing on the latter's insecurities, with the ultimate goal of getting rid of the rest of the Colemans so she can have John to herself.]] [[spoiler: This is also not the first time she has done or attempted to do this.]]
* TemptingFate: At one point, she tauntingly asks Kate "What are you going to do, hit me?". Later in the hospital scene, Kate actually does slap Esther so hard, the girl is knocked of her feet.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour:
** Casually using the word "fuck" in everyday conversation is the ''least'' worrying thing about this young lady.
** A graver example: She [[spoiler: dons a revealing cocktail dress and an insane amount of makeup in order to try and seduce her drunken adoptive father]].
*** [[spoiler: Later averted through her reveal as the 33 year old Leena Klammer.]]
* VillainHasAPoint: Esther calling Kate out on how she doesn't appreciate her family does have merit, considering Max almost died because [[spoiler: Kate was too drunk to see her fall into the pond.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: After failing to [[spoiler: seduce John]], Esther [[spoiler: runs to her room and removes everything she has been using to pass herself off as a nine-year-old, all while throwing a screaming fit and wrecking the entire room]].
* WickedCultured: Esther is a piano virtuoso, is presumably trilingual and is a talented and prolific painter.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Esther knows ''far'' more about sex than a [[spoiler: seemingly]] nine-year-old should ''ever'' healthily know. [[spoiler: Averted once she is revealed to be an adult woman who, in the original script, was subject to [[AbusiveParents sexual abuse]] by her [[ParentalIncest birth father.]]]]
* WomanScorned: [[spoiler: After her failed attempt to seduce John, she goes through a VillainousBreakdown and [[IfICantHaveYou kills him]] in retaliation. According to Dr. Värava, she killed her previous foster family after the father also turned down her advances.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler: She's thirty-three years old]] and has no problem with hurting children at all. Just ask Brenda, Max, and especially Danny.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: Breaks ''her own arm'' in a freaking ''vise'' and frames her adoptive mother for it.
* {{Yandere}}: Let's just say that Esther loves her new daddy ''very much''. [[spoiler: Since she really is a 33 year old in a child's body, she seeks romantic relationships out of her adoptive fathers, and is ready to do '''everything''' to keep him to herself]].[[/folder]]

* AgeInappropriateDress: At one point, she attempts to seduce John wearing a cocktail dress and a face full of heavy makeup, only to be [[RealityEnsues rejected.]] [[spoiler: Subverted upon the reveal of her true age.]]

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler: When John is drunk, she tries to seduce him by wearing a cocktail dress and heavy makeup, hoping that he will be more attracted to her when she is dressed as an adult. However, instead of being aroused, he's horrified because no matter what she wears, she's still his ''adoptive daughter.'']]

* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler:''(spoken while hiding a knife behind her back)'' "Please...don't let me die, Mommy."]]

One of the few things on which pianist Kate Coleman (Creator/VeraFarmiga) agrees with her apathetic architect husband, John Coleman (Creator/PeterSarsgaard), is that a drastic change is needed to save their rocky marriage. With the burden of John's past infidelity, the emotional distance of their rebellious adolescent son, Daniel (Jimmy Bennett), and the helplessness of their deaf younger daughter, Max (Aryana Engineer), Kate's loss of her third baby in childbirth breaks her sanity and drowns her in a sea of alcoholism.

In an attempt to find an alternative outlet of love meant for their stillborn child, the Colemans take in a mysterious 9-year-old Russian orphan called Esther (Creator/IsabelleFuhrman) into their family. Max, in her innocence, is ecstatic to finally have a big sister; Daniel is less than enthusiastic due to the bullying he receives at school due to her eccentricities.

* InfantImmortality: No children die in this movie, though it could've been averted in the original script:

''Orphan'' is a 2009 psychological horror film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by David Leslie Johnson, with its original story by Alex Mace. Production was split between two companies, one of them being Appian Way Productions, founded by Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio, who also directly co-produced the film.

One of the few things on which pianist Kate Coleman (Creator/VeraFarmiga) agrees with her apathetic architect husband, John Coleman (Peter Saarsgard), is that a drastic change is needed to save their rocky marriage. With the burden of John's past infidelity, the emotional distance of their rebellious adolescent son, Daniel (Jimmy Bennett), and the helplessness of their deaf younger daughter, Max (Aryana Engineer), Kate's loss of her third baby in childbirth breaks her sanity and drowns her in a sea of alcoholism.

In February 2020, a prequel named ''Esther'' was announced. Production was slated to begin in summer 2020, but was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic until November, when the prequel was officially renamed ''Orphan: First Kill''. Fuhrman has been confirmed to be reprising her role, joined by Creator/JuliaStiles and Rossif Sutherland (''Series/{{Reign}}'', ''Film/Trench11'').

* JerkassHasAPoint: Danny's inability to get along with Esther is justified likely due to something is not right with her that he senses, especially after witnessing her remorselessly killing a wounded bird with a rock.

In February 2020, a prequel named ''Esther'' was announced. Production was slated to begin in summer 2020, but has been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In November, it was announced that the prequel has been renamed ''Orphan: First Kill''. Fuhrman will reprise her role, joined by Creator/JuliaStiles and Rossif Sutherland (''Series/{{Reign}}'', ''Film/Trench11'').

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The entire family except Danny, but special mention goes to [[TooDumbToLive John]]. Though to be fair Max is 5 years old and doesn't know anything better and Katie does realize over time that there's something wrong with Esther leaving the true Horrible Judge of Character to John who only realizes too late that Kate is right and that there's something wrong with Esther but too little too late.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The entire family except Danny, but special mention goes to [[TooDumbToLive John]]. Though to be fair Max is 5 years old and doesn't know anything better and Katie does realize over time that there's something wrong with Esther leaving the true Horrible Judge of Character to John who only realizes too late that Kate is right and that's something wrong with Esther but too little too late.