For anybody who relished Richard Donner’s The Omen (1976), the opening moments of the latest addition to the franchise are spine-tinglingly familiar and sinister at the same time. The First Omen starts with doom-laden music, grey skies and windblown leafless branches, setting the mood for what is to come, although there’s no sign of the menacing Guildford Cathedral in the background.
The mood fades but, while Arkasha Stevenson’s feature debut never quite re-captures it, it does hold on to a sense of grim foreboding. Set in Rome in 1971, it sets out to explain how the demonic Damien in the original came to be, with Margaret (Nell Tiger Free) arriving from America at a convent in Rome, ready to take the veil. The nuns also run an orphanage and she is charged with looking after one particular teenage girl, who has been labelled as evil. A chance encounter with Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson) makes her more curious about the girl and the sense that something is amiss simply won’t go away. And, as she digs deeper, her situation becomes increasingly darker and more dangerous.
Stevenson and her writing team have made sure that the links to the original are seamless, especially where the timeline is concerned. Ineson plays a younger Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton was the older priest), although his natural Yorkshire seeps into his attempt at an Irish accent. And the final sequences are only a footstep away from the start of the 1976 classic. The film knows exactly what it is and, despite Stevenson saying the franchise has more stories to tell, there’s a distinct sense that this could be the only prequel.
With her in the director’s chair, the female gaze strengthens a story where motherhood already plays a key part. Scenes of birth are seen very much from a woman’s perspective and – sometimes literally – angle. As Bill Nighy’s priest dryly observes, the creation of life “can be a little messy”. It’s all underpinned by an ever-present sense of doom and foreboding, with jump scares kept to an effectively restrained minimum. Yet it’s let down by the moments where we’re shown more than we need, especially a scene following a car accident. We’ve already worked out the victim’s injuries for ourselves. But we get more…
Atmosphere, details and respect for the original ultimately win through, however, as does a terrific performance from Nell Tiger Free, who pours herself into the more physical aspects of her role. As a summer of sequels, prequels and re-boots approaches, The First Omen could be one of the best.
The First Omen releases in UK cinemas on 5 April 2024. Read our exclusive interview with star Nell Tiger Free here.
