The Omen came out in 1976 and had two sequels and a reboot in 006. Why not now for a prequel? More like why now for a prequel is the question people should be asking themselves. I’m not saying I hated this film, I’m just saying why Hollywood feels the need to go back to these horror franchises time and again. The answer is to make money. To me though that’s not enough of a good reason to go back to this world set up in these films. It’s just tiring that fans keep getting sequels, reboots, and prequels of old horror films instead of getting new horror concepts. 

Margaret (Nell Tiger Free) is an American woman who goes to Italy to become a novitiate nun.  Eventually she’ll go for her vows, but she is also brought over to teach young girls at a catholic school and work with superior nuns and a bishop played by Bill Nighy.  As she’s getting acclimated to her position she notices a young girl who has been neglected and needs her attention.  This girl has a secret that opens up a Pandora’s box that causes this young woman to question everything she knows about her religion and those who are in charge of the school and church.

Archasha Stevenson, the director, is a relative newcomer to directing but based on what she does here with The First Omen she has a bright future ahead of her. She takes a tied and true genre and infuses it with some life. Some visuals are quite jarring and very disturbing in this film. With the concept of the story, there are visuals of demons coming out of vaginas and numerous dream sequences that have dark visuals. The subject matter lends itself to this, but there are things in this film I’ve never seen before. She deserves credit for that.

I’m always on the lookout for new actors and actresses who catch my eye with their first or breakout performance and this movie has one such actress. Nell Tiger Free is a young actress who has had a few roles in her career, but here she gives a great performance as this woman trying to figure out what is going on at this church and orphanage. She gets a bit over her head and starts having to deal with forces she doesn’t understand. It’s a dark turn for her but she pulls off the character with flying colors. She uses all her acting ability to bring this character to life. The various physical things she does are amazing. In one particular scene, it looks like she is being taken over by something and I believe she was. It looked real to me while watching her. She is an actress to watch going forward in her career.

This film has a handful of other performances and cameras I enjoyed. First, as Father Brennan, Ralph Ineson is pretty damn good. He brings all his experience to this role. I believed every work that came out of his mouth. At times what he said brought chills down my spine. He was an amazing addition to the cast. Second is Bill Nighy, he was doing what he does best and I felt like maybe he was out of place as Father Lawrence. Even though I  usually like him in whatever he does. Third is Sonia Braga as Sister Sylvia. She brings a sinister feel to this character that you know when you’re watching she is not going to be good. That’s the feeling I got from her. This cast is amazing. Everybody from the small roles like a cameo at the beginning from Charles Dance to the lead actress Tiger Free is excellent. 

One issue I had with the film is that it’s a bit predictable. Once the story of the girl at the orphanage and church was established and a few supporting characters were introduced, I saw where this story was going. Add in the fact that it had to tie into the first film in the franchise starring Gregory Peck and it’s a bit anticlimactic. I hate knowing where a film is going before I get to the end. That’s where the script by Tim Smith, Stevenson, and others fails this movie.  I wished there could have been less transparency in the story so I could have enjoyed the film a little bit more.

The First Omen had some visuals I had never seen in a horror movie before. It legitimately had a few jumps cares and dark imagery that puts it as one of the best horror films this year so far. The lead performance by Nell Tiger Free is one I’ll remember going forward. The supporting cast as a whole were all stellar here. The look and feel of the movie sucked me in right away. I just wished the story wasn’t so easy to predict while watching the film. It took me out of what could have been a great experience. Instead, it’s just a good one, not a great one. I feel this film with all its positives is worth seeing, but most people will forget it in six months. Stevenson as a director is one to watch going forward. Here use of practical effects to show various scenes of graphic imagery were brilliantly done.

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen