Arkasha Stevenson's Directorial Debut “The First Omen” Delivers

Review

By Colton Gomez | 12/30/24 | 4:24 P.M. Mountain Time

Horror, Supernatural | Rated R | 1 hr 59 min | "The First Omen" Release Date: April 5, 2024

Nell Tiger Free as Margaret (Left) and Nicole Sorace as Carlitta (Right) ©20th Century Studios

“The First Omen” is a rare legacy prequel that rivals the first installment and maybe even surpasses it. This was a really nice horror movie; one that is reminiscent of “The Exorcist” in tone and craft. They might even pair nicely as a double feature for your next Halloween movie marathon.

My experience while watching this was leaning back in my seat and almost hugging myself to curb the anxiety-inducing ride this movie is. At just under two hours, the film feels a little longer than that. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, and in this case, it’s a little of both. Director Arkasha Stevenson delivers a great story and terrifying scenes in her directorial debut. However, some of the terror is mitigated by (a few) jump scares and an overexposure to the terror. I started to feel exhausted after seeing terrifying scene after terrifying scene where the film loses some of its potency and you start to peek behind the curtain.

Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), a nun preparing for her veiling, transfers from Boston to Rome to work at an all-girls Catholic orphanage. One of the girls, Carlitta (Nicole Sorace), is secluded in the “bad room” for hurting other children and having strange visions. Among the Sisters working at the orphanage are Sister Silvia (Sônia Braga), Sister Anjelica (Ishtar Currie Wilson), and Margaret’s roommate, Sister Luz (María Caballero). Margaret is told by shady Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson) that there is a rogue sect of the Catholic church that aims to bring back followers by unleashing the antichrist. Her mission now is to find out who’s behind this and how close they are.

The story here is great for modern horror movies. It takes time in its setup. It lets us into the world of Margaret and the Catholic orphanage before things start to get weird (except for the opening scene). It sets up expectations and pulls the rug from under you later. The craft here is really wonderfully done and credit goes especially to Stevenson, cinematographer Aaron Morton, and writers Stevenson, Tim Smith, Keith Thomas, and (story by) Ben Jacoby. This film is certainly a cut above the rest of its contemporaries.

Free performs a wide range of complex emotions. Her character experiences a kind of sexual awakening, as she’s been a devout nun for her whole life to this point. She feels betrayal, horror, past trauma, intense pain, a soul-crushing discovery, and makes it all very compelling and sometimes feels too real. Truly an incredible job.

The score helps to deliver that unsettling, creepy feeling. It makes really effective use of choirs singing high and distressed notes full of vibrato. But after the eighth or ninth scene where the choir returns, it starts to get old and the effect isn’t as powerful. The film suffers from a little too much of everything. Like when something feels so cold that it’s hot. This film scares so much that it starts to not be scary.

The camera work is very supportive of the themes. At times, it operates as a regular, third-person omniscient point of view and other times it operates like a spirit navigating the living world. It will fly into characters and move like it’s running. The feeling of being haunted by something just out of sight is what conveys a lot of the tension. I love that I can see carefully thought-out work here instead of being conned by loud noises and the ubiquitous shot-reverse-shot.

The few too many jump scares and obligatory demon-voice preset (during the birth sequence that goes on, you guessed it, a little too long) detract from the originality and potency of the film. These, I feel are producer notes rather than Stevenson’s vision. They don’t fit with the rest of the film in tone or style and it seems like the person(s) behind these notes wanted a different, cheaper film.

Sparsely throughout, there are nods to the first installment, “The Omen,” which released in 1976. There’s a similar but more illuminating “It’s all for you!” moment, during which, a person kills themselves. This film also ties in directly into the first film by explaining how the U.S. Ambassador adopted the particular child that would become Damien, the antichrist. The film leaves room for a sequel that could go to some interesting places, but I think will ultimately be unnecessary.

The film offers some critiques of the church as an establishment, its rogue inspirations, and its view of women. During a particular scene, a woman is calling out for help as a circle of hooded men and women of the church stare at her and observe her pain. They see her as a vessel, an object, a tool, not a person. They demand conformity and blind obsequiousness. “Do you hear the voice of God?” one of the hooded asks her. She thinks for a moment, “no.” It's about a young woman, indoctrinated, navigating the world and finding out it hates her but needs her. Add this one to your watchlist.

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Review by Colton Gomez

Colton Gomez earned his BA in Film Studies from Weber State University. He owns and operates ColtonGomez.com. Here, he covers new releases in theaters and on streaming. For short versions of his reviews, check out his LetterBoxd

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Summary