The First Omen
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2 (out of 5)
‘The most terrifying movie of the year’ is no small claim, yet it’s one that The First Omen proudly boasts in its marketing. Despite having one foot in a horror franchise dating all the way back to the 70s, feature film debut director Arkasha Stevenson and cinematographer Aaron Morton, breathe new life into an established tale and manage to construct a picture so haunting and so foreboding, it’ll stay with audiences long into the night.
A prequel to the 1976 cult classic The Omen and the sixth film in the franchise, this entry follows Margaret (Nell Tiger Free). She is a young American woman sent to Rome hoping to begin a life of service to the church. Still, instead, she encounters a sinister darkness that causes her to question her faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.
In case it wasn't obvious enough from the plot description or from the title of the film itself, it is strongly not recommended for people who are made uncomfortable by religious material in horror cinema, as the film is heavily built upon Biblical themes and ideas. It is also worth mentioning the film features a lot of graphic sexual imagery and heavy use of grotesque practical effects. Definitely not one for a family night out.
In setting the warnings from the opening, it would be essential to highlight the cast. The whole ensemble, particularly Nell Tiger Free, who plays protagonist Margaret, does an outstanding job at helping build an ominous and sinister tone throughout the film. In fact, several scenes leading up to the film's climax are solely carried by Nell’s ability to channel visceral shock and horror beyond belief. Bill Nighy’s charismatic and charming performance does admittedly stand out amongst the foreboding and oppressive tone set by the rest of the film's cast. Not enough to pull the audience out from the world is shown, but enough to wonder how this strange casting came to be.
Secondly, no overbearing gothic horror is complete without a heavy orchestral soundtrack. Predominantly composed of prolonged stretching and low-building vocals, the film's soundtrack does a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to immediately setting the tone and immersing the audience in a world of sinister orphanages and horrors from the spiritual realm.
Talking about scares in this chapter of the franchise feels almost unfair. Not because of how the film employs them but because it refrains from the easier alternatives. Director Arkasha Stevenson, and especially the haunting cinematography of Aaron Morton, excels at making the audience afraid of what they might see instead of what they’re shown. There are multiple moments throughout the film where it doesn’t indulge in loud, jumping moments but slows right down to when gentle reveals and zooms into foreboding darkness, creating more terror and dread than audiences can imagine. This is certainly not a film for those frightened easily.
Despite being set in 70’s Rome, The First Omen manages to jump off the screen and apply itself to today’s political unrest and religious discussion world. It stands out as one of the rare cases in which absolute dread and gruesome practical effects are more effective tools than loud bangs in the dark. The entire cast delivers grounded and traumatic performances that the film goes out of its way to highlight and cement director Arkashsa Stevenson and cinematographer Aaron Morton as a duo to keep an eye on.
REEL DIALOGUE: Is religion the problem with the world?
In many films from the horror genre, and especially within this franchise, religion is at the heart of all that has gone wrong in society in history. Yet, despite Hollywood’s best efforts to portray faith and religion in a dim light, religion is not the cause of all violence and horror in the world. Over the centuries, atheist regimes have just as much blood on their hands in the mistreatment of humanity.
This is not to say that there are issues within many of the world's religions, but there is a deeper issue. The real problem is that the heart of mankind is desperately wicked. If left to our own devices, the human race would be the demise of itself.
Still, the Bible tells us that God stepped in at the beginning of humanity and with His Son, Jesus, to answer this 'heart' issue instead of pushing away the notion of faith and God when addressing the world's travails. It might be better to study out what the original purposes were for humanity and consider solutions to the ills of this world.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” - Jeremiah 17:9-10
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. - Psalm 51:10
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