There is an old rule in horror filmmaking: if you cannot match the dread of a classic, at least respect its foundation. The First Omen (2024) breaks this rule completely. While the film boasts an undeniable surface-level aesthetic—populated by beautiful, wide-eyed actresses navigating beautifully framed, atmospheric Roman backdrops—it ultimately collapses under its own weight. It is a textbook example of a glossy, hollow prequel that mistakes striking visuals for actual narrative substance.
For all its stylistic posturing, the film falls completely short as a legacy sequel. It stretches a paper-thin plot into an exhausting runtime, relies on an inexperienced creative team, and commits the ultimate cardinal sin of franchise filmmaking: breaking the very lore that made the original a masterpiece.
1. A Paper-Thin Plot Stretched to Extand Beyond its Limits
The core narrative of The First Omen follows an American novitiate, Margaret, who uncovers a dark conspiracy within a Roman orphanage to birth the Antichrist. Unfortunately, that single sentence is the entirety of the plot.
Instead of building a dense, slow-burning psychological thriller, the film spends an excruciating 119 minutes circling the exact same narrative drain. The pacing drags hopelessly as the audience waits for characters to realize a conspiracy that was entirely obvious from the opening frame. A thin script cannot sustain a two-hour runtime; the result is an overlong, repetitive exercise in mood-setting that forgets to tell an engaging story.
2. Inexperienced Hands at the Helm
The film’s glaring pacing and structural flaws stem directly from the behind-the-scenes decision to hand a legendary horror intellectual property over to a highly inexperienced feature film team. Directed by Arkasha Stevenson, who co-wrote the screenplay alongside Tim Smith and Keith Thomas, The First Omen marks Stevenson’s feature directorial debut.
[Inexperienced Creative Team] ──> [Prioritises Style/Vignettes] ──> [Paper-Thin Pacing Errors]
While Stevenson has a background in episodic television and photojournalism, the transition to a major studio legacy film exposes a profound lack of structural narrative grip. The script feels less like a cohesive movie and more like a collection of disjointed horror vignettes stitched together by executive mandate. The directors and writers focus so heavily on trying to look artsy and clever that they fail to write characters with actual depth, leaving the audience entirely detached from the stakes.
3. Rewriting the Lore: The Jackal Disaster
The absolute lowest point of The First Omen is its flagrant, unnecessary retconning of the 1976 classic's mythology.
Richard Donner’s original The Omen established one of the most chilling, deeply disturbing pieces of horror lore: Damien’s biological mother was a jackal. The horrific reality of Gregory Peck digging up a hidden grave only to find the skeleton of a canine carcass cemented the absolute, unnatural abomination of the Antichrist's birth.
[1976 Classic Lore]: Mother = Literal Jackal ──> Unnatural Abomination
[2024 Prequel Lore]: Mother = Human Nun / Father = Jackal Demon ──> Generic Trope
The First Omen lazily throws this iconic lore into the garbage. The writers completely reverse the dynamic, revealing that Damien’s mother is actually a human woman (Margaret), while a demonic, werewolf-like "jackal creature" acts as the father.
By changing the jackal from the mother to the father, the film destroys the original's hauntingly cold mystery. Instead of an inherently unnatural, unholy birth, it reduces the prequel to a generic, run-of-the-mill "satanic cult assault" trope that has been done better a hundred times over. It is an arrogant creative choice that alienates long-time fans without offering anything better in return.
The Ultimate Verdict
The First Omen is a classic case of all flash and no fire. It dresses its beautiful cast in gorgeous habits and paints Rome in stunning shades of gothic dread, but beneath the paint, there is absolutely no bone structure.
Strangled by an excessive runtime, a paper-thin plot, and a rookie creative team that chose to butcher established lore rather than respect it, the film completely fails to justify its own existence. If you are looking for a beautiful photography layout, The First Omen delivers; if you are looking for a worthy addition to The Omen legacy, you will leave entirely empty-handed.
Verdict: ★★☆☆☆ (2 / 5 Stars)
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