Esther 2 : Les origines

Dès les premiers instants, cette préquelle se profilait comme relativement futile et à aucun moment, je n’ai pu imaginer que celle-ci puisse fonctionner du point de vue de l’intrigue. Mais reconnaissons-le, avec ces attentes modérées, elle se laisse finalement regarder. La baisse de qualité par rapport au premier est notable, un peu comme avec Jeu d’enfant et son successeur Chucky, la poupée de sang, lequel n’apportait rien d’original, mais se montrait divertissant. Le scénario apporte au moins un rebondissement assez intéressant au milieu du film, même si le niveau de base flirte avec les séries B et autres kitscheries. En fin de compte, il faut voir le tout comme une comédie noire dans laquelle il est amusant de voir les protagonistes se lancer des piques. Si seulement la dose d’humour noir avait été plus franche, on ne se serait pas retrouvé entre deux eaux. Ce n’est certainement pas un chef-d’œuvre, mais ce n’est pas non plus une catastrophe. (08/08/2022)

Already after the first 20 minutes, where the "little girl" beats up the burly guard without any problems, and where the father doesn't recognize his missing daughter and without noticing any differences takes a 30-year-old killer with a different accent and appearance and wrinkles into the house and considers her to be his Esther, I wanted to turn the film off without any hesitation - I haven't seen such a logical shitfest in a long time. Unfortunately for me, I didn't and bravely watched the film to the end. On the one hand, the twist explains some of the original logical holes, on the other hand, unfortunately not all of them, and there's still a bunch of nonsense. Hand on heart, casting a 25 year old actress in the role of a 10 year old kid is a flub in itself, Esther overacts, everyone acts like morons, logic goes completely by the wayside and it's clear that this is just a forced sequel trying to cash in on the nostalgia of the first film. I saw the twist coming 20 minutes ahead, it's just as nonsensical as the rest of the film and as a result it's actually a completely different thing to the original Orphan. A strange and pointless film, devoid of ideas and atmosphere, and although it can been forced through, I think I could have skipped it entirely in good conscience. (21/08/2022)

Esther is back! The prequel obviously falls short of the cult-classic original and was a losing battle beforehand, but I still have to admit that as a psychothriller it works relatively well. William Brent Bell has made his second best film after The Boy, and the effort certainly can't be denied. We follow Leena Klammer, who escapes from an asylum (a pretty decent massacre right off the bat) and cleverly infiltrates another family posing as their missing daughter. Visually it looks B-ish, but it didn't bother me that much. The acting is passable, and the family is pretty twisted, which I liked (some of the dialogue is unexpectedly quite sharp). The main twist that comes in the first half is cleverly contrived and the whole film immediately takes on a different tone, with the psycho atmosphere building up nicely. The film is spoiled a bit by the fact that it's a prequel, so we know nothing can happen to Esther. The gore could have been more nutritious, but that's not really the point. I had fun, there were elements I liked a lot, some things could have been better, but in the end, satisfaction prevails. Slightly above average. 65%. (10/09/2022)