‘The First Omen’ Review: The Perfect Religious Horror Film
Mary Beth McAndrews
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For the majority of my young life, I was raised Catholic. Every wedding I attended included a full Catholic Mass, I went to church most Sundays, and yes, I ate the body of Christ and drank his blood. Even when I wasn’t inside the church proper, I was surrounded by religious symbols, especially when I visited my dad’s parents: images of a bleeding, suffering Christ adorned the walls with rosaries hanging off tables and Bibles sitting on shelves. Everything about the practice terrified me and no religious horror film has ever really been able to capture my fear. Until now. Arkasha Stevenson‘s The First Omen delivers a deeply terrifying look at religion without trying to craft a Catholic superhero narrative. Instead, The First Omen is an upsetting and necessary tale about abuse in the Church, bodily autonomy, and spitting in the face of God.
Nell Tiger Free plays Margaret, a young novitiate who travels to Rome to take her vows and become a nun. The particular convent where she’s come to serve is an orphanage for young girls, similar to where she herself grew up. Once she arrives, she quickly gravitates towards Carlita (Nicole Sorace), a girl deemed difficult by the rest of the nuns. But once labeled a difficult child herself, Margaret is protective of Carlita, confused as to why she’s constantly locked away and borderline abused. But the more attention Margaret gives Carlita, the more she realizes that there’s something sinister going on here.
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Meanwhile, her roommate Luz, another novitiate meant to take the veil, pushes her out of her comfort zone to experience life before devoting herself to God. She dons a low-cut shirt and doesn’t cover her hair as she navigates a local bar with Luz, trying to fit into this new skin she’s put on for the night. These moments may seem trivial, but they’re crucial for letting us get to know Margaret as more than just a young, virginal nun meant to be ravished by the devil. Instead, Stevenson makes sure we view Margaret as a multi-faceted human being who’s more than a habit and crucifix. She is not just a vessel for some message about religion, but rather a character afforded complexities unlike most female characters in religious horror.
Margaret is afforded the same grace any priest is given throughout the horror genre. She’s allowed to be a bit of a mess but also incredibly passionate and angry. She isn’t a one-note depiction of purity (looking at Taissa Farmiga’s Sister Irene in The Nun) or an image of spectacle (sorry Sydney Sweeney); she’s more akin to a Father Karras or even Gregory Peck’s Robert Thorn. But even then, Margaret’s character exists as something new and exciting, especially when it comes to religious horror and addressing the truths behind the Catholic Church’s closed doors.
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This is especially true in Stevenson’s direct and unabashed portrayal of sexual assault at the hands of men and encouraged by other women. Importantly, assault here isn’t framed as titillating or as spectacle, but rather as violence that destroys a person mentally, emotionally, and physically. One such scene is Luz’s vow ceremony where she takes the veil in a gorgeous wedding dress symbolizing her wedding to Christ. But, as other nuns tie on her wimple, Stevenson frames the ceremony as a form of sexual violence rather than a moment of joy. Luz whimpers in pain as the strings tighten and she lies prostrate on the floor. Steven and DP Aaron Morton are unafraid to take supposed moments of transcendent joy and make them into moments of uncomfortable violation.
Nell Tiger Free’s performance hammers those themes home as her young naive Margaret goes absolutely feral as the narrative progresses. But importantly, that ferality is never far away. Free makes sure to have such wild emotions bubbling under the surface, things Margaret fights every day rather than new feelings that take over an innocent woman. Instead, she has always been feral, and only now can she fully give in to those urges. One such moment sees Free writhe and scream in the streets like Isabella Adjani in Possession, letting go of every ounce of rage, frustration, and fear in the face of the inevitable.
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In fact, The First Omen is a film full of deep-cut homages like Possession, weaving 1970s and 1980s filmmaking aesthetics into its DNA, from the script’s pacing to visual references. Thankfully, those homages are not heavily rooted in fan service. Yes, there is an “It’s all for you moment” of course, but it’s different enough to feel just as terrifying as in the original film. Other than that, Stevenson strives to create her own brand of scares and disturbing visuals that are grounded in similar themes rather than just copying previous scenes.
Comparisons to Immaculate are inevitable and while the two films play in the same sandbox, they are using vastly different tools to talk about religion and bodily autonomy. While Immaculate reveals in spectacle, The First Omen strives to be more grounded and confident in its declarations against sexual violence, especially when done supposedly in the name of God. Both are visually delicious but ultimately, The First Omen comes out on top when it comes to disturbing religious horror
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So often, religious horror wants to examine the male psyche and faith, with women simply fodder for the devil that need to be saved by the strong man of God. Thankfully, Stevenson flips that script with The First Omen, while still paying homage to one of the greatest religious horror films of all time. As a sexual assault survivor and a lapsed Catholic, finally seeing someone brave enough to tackle these themes (and at Disney of all places) is everything I’ve ever wanted for the genre.
This is what the genre needs right now and this is how you do good IP horror. One thing’s for sure, I will be watching any and everything Arkasha Stevenson directs from here on out. Keep her on your radar because she is truly a genre force to be reckoned with and further proof of what happens when you trust a woman to tell a good, honest, horror story even within existing IP.
Summary
The First Omen is an upsetting and necessary tale about abuse in the Church, bodily autonomy, and spitting in the face of God.
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