The First Omen (Arkasha Stevenson, 2024)
The First Omen is a supernatural horror movie, that works both as a stand alone film and as a prequel to the classic horror movie that spawned it.
Like The Omen (1976), The First Omen is set in the wild and free spirited seventies, in which people rebelled against everything, not just the authorities but also the church.
Directed by Arkasha Stevenson in her feature film debut, The First Omen tells the story of a young American woman, Margaret (Nell Tiger Free) who was raised in an orphanage and is now sent to Rome to work for the church before taking the veil herself.
As always in this kind of movie, it doesn’t take long before weird stuff starts to happen, which makes Margaret question everything about her trip to Italy, including her faith.
Then again it’s not everyday that you start to uncover a conspiracy within the church that wants to bring pure evil into the world, in a twisted attempt to bring people closer to God.
The original Omen, which was directed by Richard Donner, was not only one of the most popular movies of 1976, but is also considered a genre classic, even though it’s not held in quite the same regard as other supernatural horror movies like Rosemary’s Baby (1968) or The Exorcist (1973).
The Omen, written by David Seltzer, played into an idea that was popular in the seventies: the idea that the anti-Christ might be walking the earth in the form of a child, and that he would grow up to rule the world and lead mankind into the first stages of the Apocalypse.
After its initial success there were various Omen-sequels, a reboot and more recently, a series, but I think The First Omen is probably it’s best shot to keep the franchise alive.
It’s a good, solid movie, with a tense atmosphere, some body horror, but not too much blood and gore, a few decent scares and hallucinations and a story that keeps building to a mostly satisfying climax.
Nell Tiger Free is a strong lead, who makes it easy to sympathize with her, while she gets fine support from Bill Nighy as a cardinal who has always looked out for her and Sonia Braga as Sister Silva, who is the Abbess of the orphanage where Margaret goes to work with young women who have to deal with unwanted pregnancies. She builds up a bond with the pregnant Luz (Maria Caballero), who tells the always serious Margaret to lighten up and takes her out dancing in a local club to Daddy Cool by Boney M, which was indeed released in 1976.
Margaret also bonds with the much younger Carlita (Nicole Sorace), who is dealing with some psychological problems and who may or may not be the young woman needed by the conspirators within the church to carry the devil’s spawn to birth.
And then there is the legacy character of Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson), who tries to protect Margaret against the machinations of the church, while the young Father Gabriel (Tawfeek Barhom) also manifests himself as a close ally to Margaret.
The First Omen benefits from strong acting across the board, while also benefiting from the moody cinematography and fine production design and art direction.
It’s still nothing more (but also nothing less) than the next entry in a well known franchise, that trades on a lot of well-worn tropes, and has a fairly predictable story arc, due to the fact that it’s a prequel leading up to what happens in the Original Omen.
Still, the creative forces behind The First Omen have managed to transcend the rut the series was in to deliver a movie that at the very least has the potential to spawn yet another sequel, reboot or even the start of the Omen Cinematic Universe.
These days that means a job very well done and I’m not even being cynical about it, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles, so kudos to everyone involved!
And yes, it’s also possible to view The First Omen as a feminist reimagining of the original male centric movie, even though director Stevenson - who wrote the script with Tim Smith and Keith Thomas from a story by Ben Jacoby - deftly recognizes the complicity of women in the evil ways of the church.
In The First Omen there is no real sense of sisterhood, with perhaps one exception, but that’s one surprise I’m not going to spoil.
The First Omen is released in most countries around the world either this week or the next.
Note: I also just sent out my review of the new Ripley series, so check your inbox if you want to read it, or your ad folder or even spam box if you don’t see it. Cheers!