The First Omen – Review
Being billed as “the most terrifying movie of the year,” The First Omen is a direct prequel to the 1976 Richard Donner film starring Gregory Peck.
I think this is the 3rd movie this year with this billing, by the way, and it should be clear by now that I don’t put much stock in such pre-release posturing, so let’s talk about how this movie actually executes its vision of Satanic evil.
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
120 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Tim Smith, Arkasha Stevenson, and Keith Thomas
Directed by Arkasha Stevenson
Synopsis:
When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her own faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.
First, the film itself is mired in long, lingering shots of Rome, which, while undeniably beautiful, do little to move the plot forward. The film does slowly ratchet up the tension surrounding the strange girl at the orphanage, Carlita, and continues to build as the novitiate Margaret, readies herself to take the veil as a Bride of Christ (that would be a Nun for all you non-Catholics).
Encouraged by a fellow novitiate to experience actual life outside the spiritual realm (i.e. going to a disco, drinking, and flirting and more with men), Margaret finds herself caught between her desire to serve God and her more sectarian desire to protect Carlita, who reminds her of herself as a child: a ward of the church, isolated, prone to frightening hallucinations, and punishment for lashing out at the nuns responsible for her.
Not a ton happens early on, except for one incredibly horrific scene sure to disturb all but the most jaded horror fan which sets the stage for the climax of the film.
If you’re even passingly familiar with the Omen franchise (or concept), you know that the Anti-Christ is coming. He will be the titular Omen that signals a end of the world.
Increasingly suspect events seem to surround Carlita, and we see foreshadowing of some of the events of the 1976 film, even some straight cribbing of lines such as “it’s all for you,” which is a symptom of all Hollywood’s recent prequel-mania projects.
The film moves through some of the requisite jump-scares all horror films have, though I would classify this as more of a thriller than a horror. There are a couple of sequences that are truly horrific, however, which should satisfy the more hardcore horror fans out there.
We get to the climax, which isn’t at all surprising in its effect on Margaret and Carlita if you’ve been paying attention at all, and we glide-slope our way into the aforementioned 1976 film directly.
Not a bad film, but certainly not “the most terrifying movie of the year,” but one which is enjoyable enough to recommend.
Now I’m going to go into territory I might not normally, but I feel like it can’t be helped in this case…
*CAUTION: Spoilers ahead. Leave now if you don’t want to know, then come back after you watch the film*
I can’t help but compare The First Omen to the recent Sydney Sweeney project, Immaculate, in which a young nun arrives at a distant convent and bad baby shenanigans abound.
In Immaculate, we get what one of my fellow Utah critics called a “Jesus-rassic Park” move, in which a batch of renegade priests is trying to clone and have someone give birth to Jesus so he might reinvigorate he world’s belief in the church.
Is this a jacked up way of approaching the world’s increasing lack of faith? Absolutely, but at least it is coming from an ostensibly positive POV, except for the whole nonconsensual impregnation thing. If you can show the world Jesus is real, their belief will return.
Yes, kind of blasphemous, but still quasi-positive in terms of the what the church stands for, I suppose.
[I really enjoyed Immaculate, BTW; don’t think I didn’t.]
The First Omen, however, takes the exact opposite tack. Instead of presuming that a band of Satanists is trying to conjure up the Anti-Christ, it’s a faction of the CHURCH ITSELF trying to create the evil they purport to protect the world from.
How fucked up is that?
And if I’m being honest here, while I was raised till about age 10 in the Catholic Church, I don’t consider myself really religious, this entire narrative feels like an attack on the church and those who follow its teachings.
I’m sorry, but it does. Now, do I know if that’s what the filmmakers are TRYING to do? No.
But man, the narrative is so blatantly constructed that it feels so beyond a normal horror film scenario I have to believe there’s at least some disdain, if not outright scorn, for the church… or maybe religion in general, I don’t know.
But some people more devout that I may have more… robust… reactions to this film.
Regardless, The First Omen is not a BAD film, but it is certainly not “the most terrifying movie of the year.”
But now I want to go back and watch the 1976 Original.
The First Omen hits theaters Friday, April 5, and stars Nell Tiger Free, Nicole Sorace, Ralph Ineson, Sonia Braga, Tawfeek Barhom, Maria Caballero, Charles Dance, Bill Nighy, Ishtar Currie-Wilson, Andrea Arcangeli, and Dora Romano.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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