“The First Omen” mines terror from the Church’s culture war
Directed by Arkasha Stevenson
Screenplay by Tim Smith, Arkasha Stevenson, and Keith Thomas
Story by Ben Jacoby
Based on Characters by David Seltzer
Starring Nell Tiger Free, Tawfeek Barhom, Sônia Braga, Ralph Ineson, and Bill Nighy
There was ample cause to be skeptical of The First Omen, coming as it does hot on the heels of last year’s calamitous The Exorcist: Believer, which mined shallow nostalgia even as it served only as convincing proof that its director had never seen the original film. All these concerns are laid to rest quickly, however, as first-time feature director Arkasha Stevenson (Brand New Cherry Flavor) immediately sets the stage for a film that won’t just resort to callbacks – though it does sport a terrific Ralph Ineson (To Catch a Killer) in the role originated by Patrick Troughton in The Omen – or jump scares to manufacture a soul. Instead, she allows her performers to carry the scene here and elsewhere. The worst of it early on occurs off screen as the viewer is left with the reactions of the shellshocked and terrified witnesses, our imaginations left to fill in the blanks as the best horror movie (and horror directors) do. Mark Korven’s (Night Swim) eerie choral score builds and builds until we’re left with a twistedly funny reveal, a memorable final shot, and the sense that we’re in the hands of someone who knows what the hell they’re doing.
It helps that in Nell Tiger Free (Servant), Stevenson has found a star more than capable of bearing the weight of all that The First Omen sets out to accomplish. As Margaret, a young novitiate who travels to an orphanage in Rome to take her vows, Free is nothing short of captivating, equally adept at making her character as relatable in her compassion towards her young charges as she is in her horror at the demonic activity surrounding them. Her strong characterization comes second to the physicality she exhibits, though, which she gives glimpses of during a chaotic riot scene before absolutely letting loose in an unforgettable marionette performance in the third act, one of three scares The First Omen contains that have few equals in recent years. The same can be said of Free herself; her work here is virtually matchless in horror this decade.
It helps that childbirth is an absolute nightmare in real life, something the movie is able to spotlight in two particular scenes, the earlier of which is likely the reason early cuts of The First Omen received a rare NC-17 rating from the MPAA. The imagery is grueling and upsetting and pantses anything a jump scare could have accomplished. There are some of those, but there’s far more horror drawn from the force of Free’s performance and Korven’s score, which lends chilling atmosphere the whole movie until it finally explodes during the climax.
It’s through Margaret’s eyes that we take in the heart of the film. Its story is set against a backdrop of authority being rejected and seeking to consolidate its power. “The world is changing fast,” Ineson’s Father Brennan says, “The younger generation no longer looks to us for guidance.” The villains here know that shame and fear are powerful tools for keeping people in line, so their hope is that the apocalypse that results from the birth of the Antichrist – it is a prequel to The Omen after all – will return the world to its rightful order. The parallels aren’t terribly hard to parse; similar forces in reality may not be creating a literal boogeyman, but every moral panic about critical race theory or trans rights or “woke-ism” is a figurative one, meant for the same purpose and constructed by the same people. The status quo has been disrupted, and its maintainers would like it put back the way it was, please.
Counter to its riveting lead is the supporting cast, who never receive the same care as Margaret. Part of this is necessitated by the story; it’s hard to spin a yarn where the audience is second-guessing who is and isn’t in on the conspiracy if we know explicitly which characters are trustworthy due to time spent with them. There are ways around this, however, and when it comes to characters like Bill Nighy’s (Living) Cardinal Lawrence, who we’re told has a near-fatherly relationship with Margaret, the lingering feeling is that this could have been a role the veteran actor could have really turned into something special given the space. Instead, he plays as a staple of the horror genre: the grandfatherly figure who’s probably got a secret. Even this is more nuanced than what’s afforded to Sister Anjelica (Ishtar Currie Wilson, Lockwood & Co.) whose job is just to be creepy. It’s a job she certainly accomplishes with aplomb, especially in a scare straight out of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse, but Anjelica is the biggest question mark left by movie’s end, less out of ambiguity than a lack of characterization. In a film that regularly bucks or at least elevates cliché, she’s just a spooky nun for the sake of having a spooky nun.
And yet, The First Omen remains resonant on top of being scary as all hell, a story that should ring true to anyone who’s found themselves cast out of the Church or, as in my case, is a former problem child. Margaret is looking for acceptance and love, and tragedy in addition to horror springs from her realization that it was being offered conditionally by people who see her entire generation as unruly children and her specifically as a breeding vessel alone. Any trace of individuality is readily sacrificed on an altar to power disguised as an altar to God. This is one of many places where Stevenson wears her influences on her sleeve; her film may carry the name of The Omen, but it has the soul of another iconic blend of supernatural horror and eroding women’s rights: Rosemary’s Baby. In perhaps the most affecting moment in a movie that, as mentioned, has no shortage of them, a woman is tied down and forced to give birth to the product of an incestuous rape. She begs to be unbound. She cries that she’s in pain. All the while, Stevenson’s camera holds on those watching from the shadow, as if to ask, “Will no one answer? Will no one help her?”
Rating: B+
The First Omen is now playing in theaters. You can watch the trailer here.
