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It’s always a bit scary (pun intended) when there is a new franchise entry, especially when the last was a remake 20 years ago. In the last 12 or so months, we’ve seen a lot of religious horror hit theaters and VOD. Films like Immaculate, Consecration, The Nun 2 and the topic of this review, The First Omen. I’ll admit that while I generally like folk horror, which deals with the idea of the old gods, contemporary religious horror is generally not my thing. Due to that, I didn’t see The First Omen in theaters. Having now seen the film, I wish I’d listened to more folks and not taken the online reactions as hyperbole. This review will contain spoilers so consider yourself warned.
In The First Omen, “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.”
As I mentioned earlier, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed The First Omen. The original is a solid film but not even close to a favorite for me. Director and writer Arkasha Stevenson’s vision has made me want to revisit the franchise as a whole. A surprise given this is Stevenson’s debut feature. The film has a brooding tone that permeates throughout. This makes the viewer uncomfortable from the start. It constantly feels as though something is going to happen. Aaron Morton’s cinematography is stunning (you may recognize his work from Abigail, Evil Dead (2013), and No One Will Save You). You don’t want to take your eyes off the film. Additionally, for fans of nostalgia bombs, there are callbacks aplenty. Yes, we hear, “It’s all for you”.
Perhaps the most interesting things about the film are the story and thematic changes in terms of who is responsible for the birth of Damien. In The Omen, a group of Satanists are the ones responsible for making sure Damien is born and winds up in the hands of an affluent political family. The original film along with Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist were all released around the late 70s and can be linked to the early start of what became known as the Satanic Panic, a moral panic that started in the 80s. In the original, Father Brennan had even been corrupted and turned Satanist, only to repent when he was dying of cancer. In The First Omen, the Catholic Church is responsible for Damien’s arrival into the world. They fear secularism and want to bring people back to the church. This film still takes place in the 70s like the original but reflects a more modern view (in 2021 nearly 30% of Americans identified as secular). While this changes the story and plot of the original, it is a unique take in a sub-genre that typically has the church or a church figure as the hero.
Another change the film made was the agency of its female characters. In The Omen, women are very much depicted as subservient to their male counterparts whether it be Katherine Thorn to her husband or Mrs. Baylock to Damien. There is a moment in the film where Katherine realizes she is pregnant and doesn’t want to have the child because she is worried about everything weird going on. Despite his being told that Damien and his followers will do anything they can to destroy the new child, her husband Robert gaslights her and tells her they need to have the child. The First Omen subverts this a bit. Before taking her vows Luz is shown to be living her life to the fullest and partying before she no longer can. It could be argued that Luz’s lifestyle is perhaps only a means to lure Margaret into a forced impregnation that is desired by the extreme sect of the church. The difference between the two in any case is quite clear because in the original the forced pregnancy comes from our flawed protagonist versus the villainous religious sect in the modern prequel showcasing a less conservative stance.
Touching on Margaret’s story for a moment, throughout the film her agency is regularly taken from her. However, by the end of the film she ends up saving one of her twins (yes, Damien has a twin sister!) and her half-sister. The film ends with her story not being finished. I hope that we can see more of her new family and how Damien’s sister will play into the future of the franchise.
The First Omen is available now to rent or purchase on the major VOD digital stores and Hulu to stream. The Blu-ray is also available for pre-order on several digital outlets for those who collect physical media. I plan to revisit the rest of The Omen franchise so be sure to follow along on my Letterboxd list to see where the other entries fall in my ranking! Additionally, if you’re interested in reading more about religion in horror or The Omen, I’ve included some titles that may be of interest!
My Rating: 4/5
For further reading about The Omen and religion in horror films:
- Laycock, Joseph P., et al. The Exorcist Effect. Oxford University Press, 7 Nov. 2023.
- Scared Sacred: Idolatry, Religion and Worship in the Horror Film. Edited by Rebecca Booth et al., House of Leaves Publishing, 1 June 2020.
- Schober, Adrian. The Omen. Liverpool University Press, 16 Mar. 2022.
