The First Omen (2024) 20th Century/Horror RT: 120 minutes Rated R (violent content, grisly/disturbing images, brief graphic nudity) Director: Arkasha Stevenson Screenplay: Tim Smith, Arkasha Stevenson and Keith Thomas Music: Mark Korven Cinematography: Aaron Morton Release date: April 5, 2024 (US) Cast: Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sonia Braga, Tawfeek Barhom, Maria Caballero, Charles Dance, Bill Nighy, Nicole Sorace, Ishtar Currie Wilson, Andrea Arcangeli, Guido Quaglione, Dora Romano, Michelangelo Dalisi, Anton Alexander, Mia McGovern Zaini, Eugenia Delbue.
Rating: ***
I’ve been a fan of the Omen films since I first saw the first two on network TV circa 1979-80. I read the novelizations not long after. It was the perfect lead-in to the third movie The Final Conflict which hit cinemas in March 1981. That one I saw at the movies at the tender age of 13. While the rise of the Antichrist (Damien Thorn in his human form) is thrilling in and of itself, what I really like about the Omen movies is the death scenes. The characters typically met their demise in strange and gruesome ways upon learning Damien’s true identity. Who can forget the decapitation of the photographer in the first movie? The doctor getting cut in half by the elevator cable in the second? The iron in the eye in the third? Cool scenes, all of them. I was hoping for the same in The First Omen.
In this age of remakes, reboots and requels, I had some misgivings about The First Omen, a prequel to the original 1976 film. It seems like Hollywood is bound and determined to tarnish our memories of horror classics like Halloween and The Exorcist by producing inferior new films that rely too much on CGI and not enough on scaring audiences on a visceral level. Who didn’t have the s*** scared out of them by the original Exorcist in 1973? Last fall’s retcon sequel The Exorcist: Believer is an insult to fans. I didn’t want to see that happen to The Omen. Why mess with perfection?
Let me be clear. I did NOT hate The First Omen. It’s actually not bad. It starts off slow, but gets more interesting as it goes on. It’s technically a horror film, but it’s also a paranoid thriller replete with a protagonist who questions her own sanity after she stumbles across something that points to a big conspiracy to which she’s seemingly the only one not privy. In this case, it’s a novitiate nun named Margaret (Free, Servant) who comes to Rome to take her final vows. She’ll be working at an orphanage for girls under the watchful eye of the strict abbess Sister Silvia (Braga, Kiss of the Spider Woman). It’s there that she meets Carlita (newcomer Sorace), a girl of about 12 who’s considered a problem child. She’s often kept locked in a room by herself away from the other girls. Margaret relates to her because she was a problem child herself at her age.
There’s something about Carlita. She has a purpose. What that purpose is should be clear to those familiar with the series. Obviously, Margaret has no idea what she’s up against. There is conspiracy afoot in the Catholic Church and it’s connected to the girl….. or is it? Father Brennan (Ineson, The Witch), a character fans know well, seems to think so. He’s lurking around trying to get her files so he can confirm his theory about her. He’ll need help to do that. That’s where Margaret comes in.
Let’s start with the most important thing. Are there any cool kill scenes in The First Omen? The answer is yes, but not as many as I would have liked. One death scene is a direct reference to the original movie; the soon-to-be deceased even repeats an iconic line before…. well, you know. In another scene, a guy ends up cut in half after a car rams into him on the street. It doesn’t look as convincing as the elevator victim in Damien: Omen II (blame it on the CGI), but it’s still pretty cool. The body count in The First Omen is comparatively low, but director Arkasha Stevenson (this is her first feature film) makes up for it in other ways.
The First Omen is heavy with atmosphere and loaded with suspense. Here we have a troubled young woman at a creepy Catholic place surrounded by priests and nuns who might be out to do her harm. In that respect, it’s similar to last month’s Immaculate. Both films also deal with women being forced to give up bodily autonomy for a greater cause. Given recent IRL events, it’s a timely theme. I don’t know if I’d call The First Omen, but it is creepy as hell. Stevenson, for the most part, eschews modern techniques to create a throwback to old school horror. The authentic, Neorealist production design and haunting score by Mark Korven are two of its strongest assets.
The acting in The First Omen is quite good. Free is believable as a nice but naïve girl slowly losing her mind as she finds out more and more about what’s going on around her. Bill Nighy (Love Actually) has some great scenes as the Cardinal, the one who helped her through a rough childhood. He’s the one that guided her towards a life of serving the Lord. Hmmm, that doesn’t sound suspicious, does it? NAH! The real MVP in The First Omen is Sorace. She is positively haunting as an orphan girl with issues. What’s really up with her? Why do the other nuns want Margaret to stay away from her? She brings her A-game to her first major role.
So how would I rank The First Omen? While it has its good points including how seamlessly it ties into the OG film (great nod to Gregory Peck’s character), it ranks below the trilogy. That doesn’t mean it sucks. It simply means it doesn’t quite measure up to the OGs. It’s still pretty good though. If you like the Omen movies, there’s no reason you won’t like this one too.
