The First Omen: A Review

 

THE FIRST OMEN

It is not easy to craft a prequel to any franchise, especially one that was unintentional. The First Omen attempts to create the situation that would eventually lead to the events that unleashed Damien Thorn, the Antichrist. It works hard to be atmospheric and menacing. If only it had worked on being good and logical.

Rome, 1971. While the Eternal City is plagued by protests, American novitiate Margaret (Nell Tiger Free) comes to work at an orphanage before taking the veil (official become a nun). She is delighted to be reunited with her mentor, Cardinal Lawrence (Bill Nighy) and taken under the wing of Abbess Silva (Sonia Braga). 

Margaret also has to endure the very bizarre Sister Anjelia (Ishtar Currie-Wilson) and the shockingly liberated Luz (Maria Caballero), another novitiate. Luz is openly sexual, down to taking the innocent Margaret to a disco, where they dress provocatively, drink and at least openly flirt with men. Margaret is uneasy about being within such decadence, but finds Paolo (Andrea Arcangeli), a nice Italian boy to dance and make out with.

She, however, has no memory of what happened later that night. Luz assures her that she was well-behaved. However, Margaret has other issues to contend with. There is Carlita (Nicole Sorace), a disturbed young girl whom the nuns mistreat due to Carlita's own abusive manner. There is Anjelica, who sets herself on fire and hangs herself. Margaret sees demons all around: emerging from women's wombs and trying to drag her down during a political riot. 

Why does she see all this? What does seemingly crazed Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson) have to do with all this? What of "Scianna", the only clue in a photograph Brennan has to indicate what evil work the Catholic hierarchy is involved in. Margaret and the priest Father Gabriel (Tawfeek Barhom) learn the shocking truth: the Church has decided to breed the Antichrist in order to bring down secularism and maintain power over the populace. However, their efforts have failed due to the Devil, in the form of a jackal, continuingly conceiving daughters. Will either Carlita or Margaret herself be the mother of the Antichrist? 

The First Omen works to tie itself to the 1976 original, but I wish it had instead gone for the 2006 remake. That is because The First Omen and the 2006 The Omen are of similar quality. They are both bad films. Granted, the 1976 version did not specifically say "1976", but if we go by The First Omen, Damien's birth takes place five years before it should. Yes, the original The Omen could have taken place in 1971-1972. However, that takes away from the idea of 666, with Damien being born June 6, 1976: 6/6/76. Since The First Omen clearly takes place in 1971 (since it literally reads "Rome 1971"), I think it is almost impossible to fit in The First Omen with the 1976 The Omen.

It is a curious detail to focus on. However, what is so menacing about the Antichrist being born June 6, 1972? 

Director Arkasha Stevenson worked hard to create an eerie atmosphere in The First Omen, with grand images of the forced conceptions and the eventual birth of Damien and his hereto unknown twin sister. The first appearances of both Sister Anjelica and Luz, as well as the disco scene, are effective visually. The demonic creature being birthed is also effectively visualized. However, you cannot make a good film solely on its looks. You need a story behind the imagery. Stevenson's screenplay (cowritten with Tim Smith and Keith Thomas) is not that script.

At times, it goes almost out of its way to have callbacks to the original. Sister Anjelica's death is an almost exact replica of Damien's nanny's suicide from The Omen, minus setting herself on fire. She even has the same line, "It's all for you", though exactly who the "you" Anjelica refers to remains a bit opaque. Other times, it reminds me of Rosemary's Baby and through no fault of its own, Immaculate. 

Both Immaculate and The First Omen revolve around nuns being impregnated by Satan and the machinations of the Catholic Church to create and control the Antichrist. Immaculate came out a month before The First Omen, though the latter drew upon an earlier film. It is, to my mind, interesting how both films are similar in theme and mood, even to some plot points. It also reflects what seems to be a hostility by creatives towards Catholicism in particular, seeing it as some dark force bent on world domination through terror. Yet I digress.

The First Omen does not have particularly great performances to recommend it. Free is competent as the innocent Margaret. She is better when appearing to be seduced by the World, particularly in her hesitancy to appear so immorally dressed to go to the disco. Granted, the entire idea that these two novitiate nuns would hit the clubs, dressed so provocatively and be boozing it up while making out with hot guys is in of itself crazier than getting knocked up by Satan. However, Free acquitted herself fine in that. 

Much more interesting was Caballero as Luz, this brazenly sexual novitiate who has her own secrets. Nighy was playing the part as if he knew this was all meant to be menacing. Braga shifted from pleasant abbess to demonic conspirator well. Ineson, playing the part that Patrick Troughton would play in The Omen, I think attempted to play Father Brennan as Troughton had. However, his voice was much deeper and growler than Troughton. 

The First Omen is a poor way to start the story of Damien Thorn. It does not connect well with the original The Omen. It tries too hard to be atmospheric and menacing rather than being atmospheric and menacing. Trying to cash in on this unintended franchise, The First Omen will mercifully be the Last Omen too.

DECISION: F