WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
It’s very rare that I get the opportunity to write an article based around a film in the same year that it has actually been released (thank you 2024 for all the upcoming content!) Now, I’m sure you’re aware that this probably won’t be my only The Omen article as it has also been remade but, as this is set at the very beginning – I thought it would be best to start here…
The Truth about Damien’s Mother
This the main plot of the new film – who was Damien’s real mother, and it really does take us on a bit of a ride in finding out. We know that from The First Omen that a nun namedMargaret is Damien’s mother. Now, the interesting part about this is that in the original 1976 film, Brennan tries to tell Thorn that Damien’s mother was a jackal when the latest film shows that this is the case for his father NOT his mother.
From the original film, as far as Governor Thorn is aware, Damien’s mother is already dead – and Spiretto explains that she died in childbirth. However, we learn that none of this is true, more so that Margaret isn’t even dead. Now, we find out from the final scene that at the point of Damien’s birth they must still believe she died in the fire as it seems to be a few years on before Branning finds her and the baby girl – who seems to be at least 5 years old, which could perhaps be a way showing us the timeline of this final scene alongside the original film.
Brennan from the Beginning
Ralph Ineson takes on the role of Brennan, originally played by Patrick Troughton in 1976, and we see that he has been involved in the case of demonic Damien from the very beginning. However The First Omen makes one of the things Patrick Troughton’s Brennan says to Thorn ring untrue. He mentions when they first meet that he was there at the birth in the hospital. We see in the prequel, as we scan across the faces in the crowd of nuns and priests, that Father Brennan was not present at the Damien’s birth.
Homage Deaths
Now, this is something I completely understand in a remake and will talk about in a later article but in a prequel in seems a little odd. How can you be paying homage to something that technically hasn’t happened yet? For example, when Sister Anjelica sets herself on fire before hanging herself – it mirrors that of Holly in the original film, even down to the smashing of the window and her saying “It’s all for you”. Along with this, the death of Paolo is rather similar to that of Jennings, the photographer – even though Paolo is split completely in half instead of decapitated.
Disappointing Ending
This is probably going to sound really harsh, but the ending frustrated me a little. Much like the ending of Dark Knight Rises where the woman asks Dick Grayson why he doesn’t go by Robin, his real first name (completely incorrect by the way!) but back to the point – I genuinely did not feel that they had to mention Damien’s name at the end. For everyone that has seen the original film, we all know where this film is leading and honestly would have created a lot more suspense for me if they had just left it on the line “They have given him a name” and focus on Margaret’s shocked face.
Potential Sidequel?
Now, I’m not asking this question because I want to squeeze a third article out of this film series (I guess a 4th actually as I could do a sequel as well). We are given a new piece of information by The First Omen – Damien has a sister! Along with the mention of Damien’s name in the final scene – it is also revealed that those members of the church who wanted Damien’s birth have discovered that Margaret and the baby girl are still alive. For me, this scene feels like a way of saying Look, we’re going to make another one as well as pandering to those who have never seen the original but are at least aware of its plot.
In Conclusion
All in all, I actually really enjoyed The First Omen, so I won’t say that it was an awful idea to make it because it wasn’t. However, I do feel that they could have ended it a little bit better – either get rid of the film scene completely OR not mention Damien’s name at all if the plan is make a sidequel as those of us familiar with the franchise would, I hope, have already figured who the baby was.
