The First Omen Review: There’s Life in this Franchise

Horror franchise rises again

Of all the religious horror films inspired by The Exorcist, The Omen looms largest in the collective consciousness. While the original creeps out audiences to this day, sequels following little Damien to the White House didn’t connect with audiences in the same way. The iconic imagery was missing, and later casts didn’t have the gravitas of Gregory Peck as the lead. A misguided reboot in 2006 further alienated moviegoers, putting the series to bed for a long hiatus. After eighteen long years, first-time feature filmmaker Arkasha Stevenson (Brand New Cherry FlavorLegion) wants The Omen to matter again.

The Omen presents a small child and asks if one would you kill him if one knew it would prevent the end of the world. Now, ask that question of a woman who is still pregnant. Ask again in an age in which she doesn’t have autonomy over her body. Then one begins to see what Stevenson is doing with her relaunch. The First Omen has a lot on its mind, but Stevenson most prominently taps into an unfortunately relevant fear that we thought was banished when The Omen first came out.

Interestingly, the present national mood echoes 1976, the year in which the original Omen was released: division, no trust in institutions, and an impending sense of doom. Stevenson leans into those feelings to create unease everywhere. But she starts with one of the definitive institutions, the Catholic Church. The Church sees its hold over people waning in a post-modern world. They see it in the people who live free of expectations from domineering belief systems. Rather than dedicate themselves to renewing a sense of purpose, they seek to menace those who’ve wandered. “How do you control people who no longer believe?” Father Brennan asks, “You create something to fear.”

The film begins, innocently enough, with Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), who wants to dedicate her life to the church. She comes to Rome entranced by the beauty and the quaint way of life, something rare in a turbulent decade. Yet the warm impression fades as she discovers oddities around the orphanage she’s stationed at. As Margaret shares her concerns with the church officials, she hits a formidable wall of denial and mischaracterization. And it’s not just the men who stymy Margaret: Sister Anjelica and Luz are emblematic of the hold the Church has over Margaret and many women like her. Their bodies are held equally captive, which will grow into a horrible conundrum for Margaret shortly. Reduced to a receptacle, Margaret ceases to be human in the eyes of others. Her faith, while true, can’t override her intuition and understanding of her body. Something wrong is growing inside her.

The horror genre’s seen no shortage of body horror in recent years (HereditaryPossessorInfinity Pool, etc.), but The First Omen looks to give all of them a run for the money. Stevenson detailed how she had to fight to get an R-rating instead of NC-17 from the MPAA. “It’s the theme of our film. It’s the female body being violated from the inside outwards,” she explains in an interview with Fangoria. “If we talk about female body horror, we are going to talk about forced reproduction, and we have to be able to show the female body in a non-sexualized light.” And as far as iconic imagery goes, that scene will leave everyone talking. But no spoilers here, I promise.

Nell Tiger Free offers such vulnerability in her performance that it’s impossible not to build a connection with her. Margaret is one of the most physically demanding roles I’ve seen and a showcase for an actor going to be in demand from here on out.

Given the tight two hours, The First Omen doesn’t have a lot of screen time to develop many characters beyond Margaret. So the film relies on the presence of Charles Dance, Ralph Ineson, and Bill Nighy as Father Harris, Father Brennan, and Cardinal Lawrence, respectively, to bring personality to the supporting cast. An imposing trio, no doubt, all three actors leave their mark onscreen. Dance and Ineson go large and it dovetails nicely with Free’s lived-in work. A joy in most films, Nighy lends an insidious tone to the public face of a group that hides more than it lets on. Proving both charismatic and horrifyingly cruel, Nighy’s Cardinal Lawrence would ordinarily be the most terrifying aspect of The First Omen—if we didn’t know what was to come.

Much of recent horror depends on psychological tension. While The First Omen dabbles in that, it achieves terror for how intensely visceral Margaret’s turmoil is. Jump scares are over-deployed in spots, but the film builds enough mood and setting where it can be overlooked. The strength of the film is pathos. Honestly, even without the connection to The Omen, this film would succeed on its own.

Stevenson isn’t content to leave Easter eggs that connect to the 1976 film. She weaves a compelling mystery that’s satisfying in its own right. Yes, there are callbacks to the original Omen, but there’s nothing lazy about this film’s production. The set design and cinematography don’t skimp. The colours and imagery contribute to a dreamlike haze so illusory that Margaret can’t distinguish what is truly happening. Practical effects won’t always trump CGI, although it goes above and beyond in making The First Omen feel tangible.

If you told me six months ago, that one of the most entertaining experiences of 2024 would be seeing this in theatres, I wouldn’t have believed you. Yet Arkasha Stevenson and Nell Tiger Free managed the unlikely, they took a prequel to a property no one cared about and made it breathe again.

The First Omen releases in theatres on April 5, 2024.



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