The First Omen

This movie was ultimately pointless. While it featured some cool visuals and interesting death scenes, it was overall very boring and failed to add anything significant to the lore of the franchise. The film does have moments of visual flair, with certain scenes showcasing impressive special effects and creative cinematography. A major issue with the film is the way it handles its female characters. The writing falls into condescending tropes that undermine the potential for strong storytelling. Female characters are often depicted in stereotypical roles, diminishing their complexity and impact on the plot. Additionally, the film attempts to delve into the Christian-based horror sub-genre, specifically exorcism themes, but falls short of creating genuine scares. Studios often struggle with making these films truly terrifying because they lack a deep understanding of the faith’s principles. The result is a portrayal that feels hollow and inauthentic. One solution could be to hire screenwriters who are well-versed in Christian theology and culture to bring authenticity to the sub-genre. Marketing these films to a Christian audience might also prove interesting and create a more engaged viewer base. Authenticity in storytelling could transform the genre, making it more impactful and frightening. As someone who does not identify as Christian, I can see the potential for more meaningful and scary films within this sub-genre if approached with respect and depth. The current approach, however, leaves much to be desired and feels disconnected from the true essence of the faith it seeks to portray. Overall, while the movie offers some interesting visuals and death scenes, it ultimately fails to deliver a compelling or original story. The condescending portrayal of women and the hollow execution of Christian-based horror elements significantly detract from its potential. Studios need to rethink their approach to both character writing and genre-specific storytelling to create more engaging and authentic films.

Novice "Margaret" (Nell Tiger Free) arrives in Rome to a welcome from her cardinal sponsor "Lawrence" (Bill Nighy) where she hopes to complete taking her vows. She is greeted with open arms and taken on a tour of what she hopes will become her new home. This is when she encounters the shy "Carlita" (Nicole Sorace) who spends much of her time in solitude drawing. This intrigues "Margaret" but not as much as some of the other goings on in the maternity ward of the hospital. Her concerns are only exacerbated by a meeting with "Fr. Brennan" (Ralph Ineson) who spins her an horrific yarn that makes her head spin and sets her on a detection task that reveals a conspiracy to end all conspiracies - one that is conceived by the church for it's own perpetuation, but that could bring down both it and mankind. At times it's quite a decently paced watch, this, with a little gruesomeness (isn't it odd that the tools of medicine so often look like those of torture?) but given we have known the denouement since 1976 the lack of any real jeopardy does rather rob the film of much of a sense of menace and what "jump moments" there are are all a bit predictable. Free does try to imbue her character with a bit of passion, and she manages along well enough but Nighy is weak and the single appearance from Charles Dance adds nothing at all to these lacklustre proceedings. Prequels are always hard to deliver. This tries, but sadly we've seen it all before and I fear the nun theme is beginning to self-flagellate itself to death. A short story over-stretched.

I really don't see the point of making a prequel that retcons the original films. Hollywood does it all the time, and when you hear the creators it is always to own the fans in some way. As in: "this will anger the fans of the original" I don't understand how they think it's a good idea given that the fans are the reason the movies are worth making sequels, prequels, and reboots of. So they seem to intentionally NOT want the fans to see it, and then are always angered when the movies fail. But sometimes it's because Hollywood hires people who proudly didn't see the source material and then don't require them to watch the source material. In either case they always seem shocked when the movie fails. I read the plot and... didn't see it until fate made me, and the reason I didn't see it is because they outright said what they retconed. I'm not sure if it failed or not, but watching through it I couldn't help but think "Why rewrite the Omen? Why does my wife want to watch this?" and then when it was over "Well, yeah, I can understand why you don't like it honey, you're right, they changed too much."