The First Omen (2024) – Movie Review
This remake focuses again on Damien’s origins, specifically what led to his birth.
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Plot Summary
It’s 1971 in Rome and a cultural revolution has threatened the church’s influence. With that in mind, a young nun in training, Maggie, is invited to help form the next generation. However, what challenges Maggie is the way the old guard. Yes, these nuns laugh, tell stories, smoke, and joke, but they still have cruel habits, like how they isolate a young girl named Carlita.
Maggie takes to Carlita, and defends her whenever possible, but she is warned by a man named Father Brennan about Carlita. He believes there is something sinister about her and asks for help to prove it since he has been excommunicated. Originally, Maggie isn’t trying to help the man, but as she has visions, hears things, and after one tragic event after another, she changes her mind.
Leading to the kind of reveal that may rock her faith and lead to questions about who she is.
Review
Our Rating: Mixed (Divisive)
Good If You Like
- Religious Horror Movies
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Highlights
It Showed Nuns Be Normal
For a lot of these horror movies, especially ones focused on the Catholic faith and religious figures, whether cardinals, nuns, or fathers of the church, they are portrayed as sinister or hiding something. In this film, things are a bit different. We see the nuns tell stories of life before taking their vows, making jokes, smoking, laughing, and simply coming off as human beings.
Is there still reasons to fear them and see them as corrupt due to their role in trying to bring forth the antichrist? Yes. But until that point, you sometimes get a “Sister Act” set of nuns.
Low Points
It Doesn’t Use Its Runtime Well
Are there frightening moments in “The First Omen?” Yes. However, it cannot be discounted; this is a remake for a franchise that struggles to reinvent itself. Even in this film, while it is nice to see Nell Tiger Free of “Servant,” she doesn’t really bring anything new here.
At this point, horror movies featuring Christianity and Catholicism are as played out as vampires and zombies. We need to explore different faiths, like how “Lullaby” puts a Jewish spin on things. For having nuns who have dark visions, are tortured, and dealing with a corrupt institution that vies for power, it has been done excessively, and no one seems able to find a new avenue without well-tread streets.
Thus leading you to have the same scenes of something in the corner causing a jump scare, the elder nun who comes off cold, the men of the church who seem distant, except that one who comes off friendly until they need to stand up to their peers. It all feels so recycled, and it is such a shame since the horror genre has been coming up with excellent new stories, yet this has received funding.
On The Fence
How It Pursues Your Investment
I’m torn regarding how “The First Omen” seeks your interest. It is a horror movie, so naturally, it draws the people who enjoy jump scares. The film is also a remake, so there is this desire to see what it may do with “The Omen,” which isn’t a bad franchise, but it seems unable to finish the story of the church controlling the antichrist or losing control and causing the end of days. We keep heading back to the beginning.
But, similar to the show “Tracker,” there is this sense that, because Nell Tiger Free brings some sort of recognition between “Game of Thrones” and “Servant,” she can carry the film, and at times, she does.
However, there are only so many times you can see the same character played by a different actress. And as much as you can appreciate Free’s own brand of young naivete that she brings, while making it clear Maggie is by no means a goody two shows, it doesn’t hold up for two hours when she has no consistent screen partner to keep her sharp or a script to keep you engaged when it’s time to develop the story, and not just make you question what is going to be thrown at the lead next.
Background Information
| Film Length | 2 Hours 0 Minutes |
| Date Released | April 5, 2024 |
| Where To Watch | In Theaters |
| Director(s) | Arkasha Stevenson |
| Writer(s) | Tim Smith, Arkasha Stevenson, Keith Thomas |
| Based On Work By | Ben Jacoby, David Seltzer |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| Content Rating | Rated R |
Content Information
- Dialog: Cursing
- Violence: Dismemberment, Blood, Torture, Self-Harm
- Sexual Content: Nudity, Sexual Situations (Implied), Depiction of Abuse
- Miscellaneous: Body Horror, Vomiting, Smoking
Character Guide
| Character’s Name | Actor’s Name |
| Maggie | Nell Tiger Free |
| Carlita | Nicole Sorace |
| Father Brennan | Ralph Ineson |
Character Description(s)
Maggie
As a kid raised in the church, Maggie was a bit troubled and got into it with the nuns a lot. Even now, while she has settled down, she isn’t afraid to speak her truth and not cower, look down, and apologize. But, with hoping to take her vows and be a permanent part of a Rome abbot, she may have to learn how to bite her tongue.
- The actor is also known for their role in “Servant: Season 1.”
Carlita
Carlita is a girl who reminds Maggie of herself. She lives in this cycle of being picked on by the nuns, thus being picked on by the other girls in the orphanage, and when she retaliates, she is treated as the bad one.
Father Brennan
Father Brennan knows something is up with the Roman Catholic church. He doesn’t have specific documentation because he has been excommunicated, but he knows enough to believe Carlita will be at the center of their plans.
- The actor is also known for their role in “Lord of Misrule.”
