✯✯✯

“Look at me, Damien! It’s all for you!” so goes one of the most famous lines from the original The Omen directed by Richard Donner. It’s a scene that would tell you everything you need to know about what the young Damien Thorn’s presence would suggest in the lives of the ambassador Robert Thorn and his wife Katherine, setting up something incredibly sinister in turn. But how exactly would things come to be that led into Damien Thorn taking the place of the Thorn’s real child? Arkasha Stevenson answers that and more in The First Omen, which perhaps takes a very fitting new direction for a series revolving around the rebirth of the Antichrist within the world we know.

Set in Italy during the Years of Lead, The First Omen tells the story of the American novitiate Margaret Daino (Nell Tiger Free) as she’s sent to work in a Catholic orphanage in Rome. Over there, she meets up with Cardinal Lawrence (Bill Nighy), Father Gabriel (Tawfeek Barhorn), and Abess Sister Silva (Sônia Braga), who all welcome her warmly. Around there, Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson) also warns Margaret of a mistreated orphan named Carlita (Nicole Sorace) to warn her that bad things will happen surrounding her – and suddenly the friendly image she was greeted with shows itself to be nothing more than a mere cover.

Noting that The First Omen is the first feature film directed by Arkasha Stevenson, it also makes this effort all the more commendable. Not only does Stevenson demonstrate confidence behind the camera, but in how she establishes a perfect look for a film based around the presence of the Antichrist, one can only feel that there’s a real sense of danger brought around by the fear instilled by a demonic presence. Of course, it’s mostly teased through the movie and the results often get under one’s skin.

What I think works especially well in favour of this film, separate from the previous iterations of The Omen, is that Arkasha Stevenson is building a case for her own film existing on its own terms too. As the preceding films all revolve around the young Damien Thorn, perhaps the circumstances that brought him into the world as we know it would only be so sinister in turn. Stevenson’s influences are evident; going from gothic horror films to giallo films, and there’s also a moment that alludes to the great Andrzej Zulawski film Possession too. Yet they’re all very confidently placed in a manner that asserts Stevenson’s own visions of a nightmare.

It’s also clear that Stevenson wishes to engage with the political context upon which the film is set; especially with noting that The Omen is centered around an American diplomat who’s raising the Antichrist. This also leads to some timely, if rather obvious political commentary about the Catholic Church’s willingness to maintain a stronghold over the Christian population within the world – especially as younger people begin to embrace more left-wing ideals leading into their future. But even knowing the wide appeal of The Omen films, one can only feel that even as this is a film being released under a major studio, it’s also limited as a result of such. It’s limited in the sense that it never really goes as far as you’d hope that it could. Most of this comes from the fact that its main plot twist is ultimately made rather obvious as a result of the connection that it has to Richard Donner’s film – which somewhat lessens the apocalyptic impact it could very well carry. This seems like an inevitable pitfall, but unfortunately it seems like it could not be avoided either.

The First Omen very well might be better than it has any right to be, given the fact that the concept of a prequel to The Omen being made in the present would seem doomed from the start. But Arkasha Stevenson is not falling into the trappings of legacy franchise entries where cameos from familiar characters would be coming forth: in fact, the only time the connections are made explicit aside from the presence of Father Brennan is the ending. All this is appreciable, and the cast are fantastic: Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, and Bill Nighy are all fantastic. But its strengths all seem undone by manner of how it all connects back to the 1976 classic.

Watch the trailer right here.

All images via 20th Century Studios.

Directed by Arkasha Stevenson
Screenplay by Tim Smith, Arkasha Stevenson, Keith Thomas
Produced by David S. Goyer, Keith Levine
Starring Nell Tiger Free, Tawfeek Barhorn, Sônia Braga, Ralph Ineson, Bill Nighy
Premiere Date: April 5, 2024
Running Time: 119 minutes