We currently live in a world of remakes, sequels, requels from studios who are desperate to cash in on any franchise that made them even a sliver amount of money in the past. We have seen a few low points, particularly with last year’s attempt to resurrect the Exorcist films. We all know that this did not go well and plans for further films were shelved quite swiftly after the film’s disastrous performance at the box office. It was with a similar amount of trepidation that I went into The First Omen. Fortunately, I was completely surprised; the film is a disturbingly horrific and beautifully told story about corruption in the catholic church and the lengths they will go to cover it up.
The story starts out looking at Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), a young American woman headed into ascension in the catholic church. She moves to Italy to complete her ascension into becoming a Nun after the priest from her childhood recommends her Cardinal Lawrance, who Bill Nighy brilliantly plays. At the convent, which is also acts as an adoption centre and refuge for pregnant young women who need assistance during their time. Margaret meets a young girl Clarita (Nicole Sorace), her treatment by the Nuns is different to the other girls there and often spends a lot of time in the Bad room. Things don’t add up for Margaret and she soon finds herself investigating the reason behind the cruel treatment of Clarita and how it connects to the inevitable birth of the anti-Christ.
We have seen many supernatural films about the Catholic church, particularly in the last few years with Warner Bros Conjuring spin-off The Nun and its sequel, Sony attempting with The Pope’s Exorcist and Universal’s aforementioned dreaded Exorcist sequel. Director Arkasha Stevenson clearly knows this, while understanding the real-life corruption and need for power that the Catholic church holds. Instead of fumbling about, this film embraces this idea completely and instead of one person trying to infiltrate the church and bring about the end of the world, this film dives much deeper into it.
Some horror films are fantastic at delivering jump scares, others keep their cards close to their chest, offering up an intriguing mystery, and others just throw disturbing images and scenes at you in order to shock and sicken. This film manages to be all of these things at once, all securely contained in a two hour movie. The jump scares are genuinely earned in this film and came as a complete surprise. There are several moments when a character is staring into the pitch black and you can just make out something moving slowly towards them, the camera then flashes back to the character whose fear has intensified, and then back to the pitch black as the entity leaps out in the most satisfying way. Where the film really excels is the shock and sicken parts. Stevenson understands that the treatment of women and their bodies by the church is something else that is quite often glazed over in films and has no problem exploring this. Scenes of childbirth in extremely harsh conditions with demon hands prodding and poking around is confronting and told at such a rapid and sickening pace, for people like me who are quite queasy when it comes to needles, medical instruments and blood, this was not fun.
Free is particularly fantastic as Margaret. Her understanding of the Church and her realisation as to what is happening, while still wanting to hold onto her own hopes and dreams of becoming a fully-fledged Nun is fascinating to watch. You could strip the Omen stuff away and this would still be an exciting film. Before she moves into the church full-time, Margaret is housed in the city of Rome with fellow recruit Luz (Maria Caballero), and their commitment to having one last night out before giving their bodies over to the Lord plays out in a surprisingly well-shot nightclub scene set in 1970’s Italy.
During this time in Italy’s history, there was rioting in the streets, a large cultural shift of the younger generation leaving the church and looking to science and education combined with the politics of the time had a bloody two-decade effect on Italy’s social standing, and this is woven beautifully into the events of the film and the reason for the Catholic church wanting to go through with their plans with the antichrist. Having a movie set and actually shot in Italy is not easy to find these days with most studios using external shots with studio interiors. Here the filming was done in the town of Viterbo, the same locations as Life is Beautiful and the upcoming La Chimera. This location assists the movie in feeling alive and for that gothic horror vibe to ring through perfectly.
The first three-quarters of this film works perfectly, it is able to stand alone in its own right and does not need any prior knowledge or viewings of the Omen or its ill-fated sequels or TV shows to be able to follow this film. Stevenson is able to let her vision of this film stand on its two feet without needing to pay homage to the franchise’s past. It’s a shame that the final act and closing moments of the film do connect the dots to the Omen films and franchise, no doubt to support any future sequels that may need to occur if this film does well financially. That doesn’t take away from the experience of the film, it just does feel slightly disappointing that is didn’t finish a bit stronger.
The First Omen is not the film you think it’s going to be. It’s a deep dive into the manipulation of the Catholic church and the lengths they will go to to remain in power. A tale of possession and manipulation of the female body as simply an instrument to get what they want has never been told so succinctly by first-time film director Arkasha Stevenson. All of this is fuelled by spectacular performances from the cast, in particular, Free, who leads the charge in making this a horror film that has a lot to say about religion and women’s bodies. It is a terrifying and unsettling film that will stay with you long after you have left the cinema.
The First Omen is showing in cinemas now.
