---
title: "The First Omen"
year: 2024
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-first-omen"
fi1m_id: "the-first-omen"
imdb_id: "tt5672290"
tmdb_id: 437342
wikidata_id: "Q117842576"
fi1m_score: 72
critics_score: 69
critics_reviews: 16
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:59.613285+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The First Omen (2024)

Directed by Arkasha Stevenson · 1h 59m · MPA R · Horror

## Identity

The First Omen

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-first-omen
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-first-omen
- **IMDb ID:** tt5672290
- **TMDB ID:** 437342
- **Wikidata ID:** Q117842576
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5672290/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/437342, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q117842576

**Fi1m score: 72** · Critics 69 from 16 reviews

*In a sentence:* Every nun in Rome knows something and every one of them is dreadfully calm about it

> Arkasha Stevenson’s first feature is the most frightening thing to carry the Omen name since the original, with one delivery-room scene we will not forget in a hurry. Then the plot has to reach 1976, and the last half hour lies down and lets it.

## Synopsis

Rome, 1971. Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), a young American novice, arrives to take her vows at an orphanage run by Sister Silva (Sonia Braga), sponsored by Cardinal Lawrence (Bill Nighy). Her roommate Luz (María Caballero) wants her to see the city before she takes the veil. Among the children is Carlita (Nicole Sorace), a silent girl kept apart from the others, and a frightened priest, Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson), tells Margaret to stay away from her. Outside the gates, students are fighting the police. Arkasha Stevenson’s first feature is a prequel to *The Omen* (1976), tracing where its child came from, with Charles Dance and Tawfeek Barhom among the clergy.

## Review

Rome, 1971. Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), a young American novice, arrives to take her vows at an orphanage run by Sister Silva (Sonia Braga), with Cardinal Lawrence (Bill Nighy) as her sponsor and a roommate, Luz (María Caballero), who thinks she should see a nightclub before she sees a veil. Outside, students throw stones at the police. Inside, a silent girl called Carlita (Nicole Sorace) draws pictures the nuns would rather she did not, and a hoarse, frightened priest, Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson), tells Margaret to keep away from her. Anyone who has seen Richard Donner’s *The Omen* (1976) knows roughly where this must end. Arkasha Stevenson’s first feature is a good, frightening horror film for about eighty of its 119 minutes and a dutiful one for the rest.

Stevenson and the cinematographer Aaron Morton shoot the city in the browns and burnt oranges of an old photograph, grain in the shadows, daylight coming through high windows in slabs. Eve Stewart’s orphanage is long corridors, iron beds and a chapel too large for the people in it, with locked rooms nobody explains. Paco Delgado cuts the habits close about the face, so that in a group of nuns you see only eyes, and on the one night Luz gets Margaret into a dress it sits on her like a costume, which is the point. For most of its length the film repays being looked at.

Then, about an hour in, there is a scene in a delivery room. We will not describe it, except to say that it was not the blood that got to us but the angle Stevenson chooses to show it from and the calm of the women standing round the bed. We put our tea down and did not pick it up again for some minutes. Bob Murawski and Amy E. Duddleston cut most of the film briskly; here they hold, and the holding is what does the damage. It is the scene the film exists for.

Free carries it. She plays Margaret as someone who has been good for so long she has stopped checking whether she means it, and when the strangeness starts she does not scream, she watches, which is worse. Ineson has the other job, the man who knows and cannot make anyone listen, and he does it with a voice like gravel in a bucket. Braga smiles a great deal and we trusted her less each time. Nighy is warm and tired. Charles Dance plays Father Harris, and what happens to him sets the terms.

Mark Korven, who scored *The Witch*, gives it a choir that sounds recorded in the wrong room and low strings that arrive half a second before anything happens. It works when it is quiet. It is not always quiet: there are three or four jump scares here that a film this confident did not need, each announced by a stab of sound loud enough to count as a fault.

The trouble is the year 1976. This is a prequel to a film whose ending everyone knows, so the last half hour stops being a story and becomes a checklist. Characters explain things to each other in full sentences. A famous name is spoken. A shot from the original is reproduced so exactly that it plays as a bow to the audience rather than a scene. The screenplay, by Tim Smith, Keith Thomas and Stevenson from a story by Ben Jacoby, is at its best when it forgets what it owes, and it is not allowed to forget for long. We relaxed in the last twenty minutes, and a horror film should never let you do that. It did not help that [*Immaculate*](https://film.one/film/immaculate), another film about an American novice in an Italian convent, reached cinemas the same year with a premise close enough to swap posters.

Donner’s film had patience; it knew what it was and let the audience get there in their own time. Stevenson’s has more nerve, a better lead and one scene the original would never have dared, and it has a studio’s list of obligations pinned to its back. See it for the first eighty minutes, on as large a screen as you can manage, and forgive the rest. It runs 119 minutes and carries a 15, and it uses it.

*Fi1m score 72, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics come away pleasantly surprised that a late prequel to a 1976 horror film is this good, and the praise lands in two places: Arkasha Stevenson’s direction, on her feature debut, and Nell Tiger Free’s lead performance. Reviewers repeatedly credit Stevenson with atmosphere, painterly images and body horror that is nastier and more female-centred than the franchise has managed before, and several call the 1971 Rome setting a real asset.

The reservations are consistent too. Because the film must arrive where the original begins, many find the reveals predictable and the last act weaker than the first, and a few think the gore is doing work the characters should be doing. The spread is fairly wide. The Telegraph finds it short of real tension until its final minutes, The Wrap calls the story tedious, and The Hollywood Reporter thinks the atmosphere covers for a plot that does not hold together. Variety, more mildly, rates it below the similar Immaculate.

## Straight answers

**Is The First Omen worth watching?**

*The First Omen* is worth watching for anyone who wants a properly frightening horror film and can forgive a dutiful last half hour, and we scored it 72. Arkasha Stevenson's prequel is handsome, well acted by Nell Tiger Free and Ralph Ineson, and has one delivery-room scene we will not forget in a hurry. Once the plot has to reach 1976 it stops being a story and becomes a checklist.

**How long is The First Omen, and what is it rated?**

*The First Omen* runs 1h 59m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a horror film.

**Where can I watch The First Omen in the US?**

*The First Omen* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The First Omen, and is it suitable for children?**

*The First Omen* carries a UK 15 certificate and uses it, so it is not suitable for children. It is frightening rather than gory for most of its length, but there is one delivery-room scene about an hour in that we found hard to watch, and three or four loud jump scares besides. The squeamish should think twice; older teenagers who know the original will manage.

**What should I watch after The First Omen?**

After *The First Omen*, try [*Rosemary's Baby*](https://film.one/film/rosemarys-baby) (1968, Fi1m 92): A pregnancy, a building full of helpful neighbours, and dread that never once raises its voice. Then [*Saint Maud*](https://film.one/film/saint-maud) (2019, Fi1m 82): A young woman’s faith curdles in a seaside town; small, exact and frightening.

### Reviews we read (23)

- **Total Film** (85/100, inferred): This classy, female-centred prequel is devilishly good, with atmospheric direction, tense mood and a standout lead performance that brings originality to the horror heritage. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-first-omen-review/)
- **Vulture**, Bilge Ebiri (85/100, inferred): The review celebrates the film as a rare good Omen entry, soaked in stylish, textured, and shocking images that tap visceral fears and blend societal anxieties with effective horror mood and expressionism. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-the-first-omen-is-actually-a-good-omen-movie.html)
- **The AV Club**, Matthew Jackson (B+): The critic calls it a satisfying prequel that stands on its own as grisly Catholic horror, anchored by a strong lead performance and clever direction that toys with expectations while delivering thrills. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-first-omen-movie-review-1851386463)
- **Slant Magazine**, Kyle Turner (80/100, inferred): The critic lauds the stylish, faith-defying prequel for subverting horror tropes with painterly visuals, eroticism, and political context, positioning the director as an urgent new voice in the genre. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-first-omen-review-arkasha-stevenson/)
- **Time Out**, Ian Freer (4/5): The review calls it thoughtful and engaging horror hokum told with unswerving commitment, praising the director's handling of scares and the lead's performance. It notes the film eschews gimmicky callbacks while remaining unsettling. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-first-omen-2024)
- **Empire**, Catherine Bray (70/100, inferred): The film delivers stylish horror tropes and strong set-pieces in a nunsploitation prequel but suffers from pacing issues and feels familiar rather than revelatory. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-first-omen/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Joshua Rothkopf (65/100, inferred): The critic praises the stylish atmosphere, period detail, and visual flair from debut director Arkasha Stevenson. It notes the film gets the job done with suspense but is diminished by its foregone conclusion and lack of imagination compared to similar recent horrors. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-04-05/the-first-omen-review-horror-arkasha-stevenson-nell-tiger-free-nunsploitation)
- **Radio Times** (3/5): The critic describes a solidly crafted if frequently pedestrian story that provides atmosphere and touchstones to the original but lacks substance in its themes. It concludes the film does what it says on the tin but not much more. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/the-first-omen-review/)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (60/100, inferred): The stylish prequel has flair and effective body horror early on but is ultimately undermined by having to align with the franchise's familiar plot points and a weak final act. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/apr/04/the-first-omen-prequel-horror)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge (55/100, inferred): The review calls it a decently executed prequel that is less scary than the 1976 original but more profane, with legitimate shocks and sacrilegious elements. It notes the film pales next to the superior “Immaculate” and risks diluting the franchise’s impact. [Read](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/the-first-omen-review-omen-prequel-1235960076/)
- **The Telegraph** (40/100, inferred): The prequel tries too hard to establish its own angle on the Antichrist's origins but lacks real darkness and tension until the final minutes, missing the impact of the original. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/the-first-omen-review/)
- **IndieWire**, Alison Foreman: The review praises the film's ambitious origin story for the Antichrist and its potential to launch a messy but compelling new chapter in the franchise, highlighting the director's debut. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-first-omen-review-1234970832/)
- **Screen Daily**: The review portrays a grim, often upsetting prequel that traces the origins of Damien with effective dread and bad vibes. It notes narrative similarities to other recent horror films while highlighting the dual mysteries at its core. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-first-omen-review/5191837.article)
- **Sight and Sound**: The critic finds the prequel a surprisingly lively and enjoyable act of IP renovation that is impressively paced with effective shocks. It praises Nell Tiger Free's striking performance while noting the callbacks are harmless fan service. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/first-omen-surprisingly-lively-take-well-worn-franchise-mythology)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Frank Scheck: The critic describes the film as a fever dream with strong atmosphere created by the director but weak narrative coherence, relying on cheap jump scares and excessive gory body horror. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-first-omen-review-horror-prequel-1235864544/)
- **The New York Times**, Brandon Yu (Critic’s Pick): The critic finds the prequel a thrilling mash-up of horror tropes that gives the story new life. It effectively uses its 1971 Rome setting for scale and compositional impact while delivering a pulpy narrative about the Antichrist’s origins. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/04/movies/the-first-omen-review.html)
- **The Times**, Ed Potton (★★★☆☆): The film traces Damien's origins with some effective female body horror and gothic style but lacks the original's sinister inevitability and leans too heavily on familiar tropes. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-first-omen-film-review-x29rq3xfx)
- **/Film**, Witney Seibold (8.5/10): The critic calls the film an excellent, terrifying prequel that is thoughtfully menacing, uniquely stylish, and utterly terrifying. They highlight the director's visual assurance, drum-tight editing, eerie sound design, and slow-burn intensity while noting some obligatory callbacks to the original as a minor weakness. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1555035/the-first-omen-review-horror-prequel-done-right/)
- **Den of Geek**, Rosie Fletcher (4/5): The critic calls it an effective prequel to the 1976 original that is very much its own film and intensely female, crediting director Arkasha Stevenson’s feature debut for bringing art-house body horror and subversive elements to the franchise. She notes strong visuals, pacing, and performances but finds some lore nods and prequel constraints limiting its full potential. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-first-omen-review/)
- **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (7/10): The critic praises the film's smart, unsettling approach to horror that builds dread without relying on jump scares, highlighting Nell Tiger Free's haunting performance. They single out the restraint in terrifying sequences for praise, while noting some predictable reveals as a minor complaint. [Read](https://collider.com/the-first-omen-review/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the prequel stylish and well-crafted as a psychological thriller with strong performances and setting, though predictable in its genre tropes and not for the squeamish. They single out the excellent cast and Italian locations for praise. [Read](https://deadline.com/2024/04/the-first-omen-review-gory-nuns-story-prequel-to-1976-original-1235874335/)
- **The Wrap** (40/100, inferred): The review criticizes the film for its tedious story and prequel constraints, noting it invests more in grotesque gore than characters. It praises Nell Tiger Free's performance and the director's handling of brutality. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/the-first-omen-review-nell-tiger-free/)
- **Paste**, Brianna Zigler (8.0): The critic finds the prequel surprisingly effective and fresh, commending its image-focused direction and skin-crawling visuals over typical horror tropes. They single out the strong atmospheric tension and pro-choice undertones for praise. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/horror-movies/the-first-omen-review)

## Details

- **Director:** Arkasha Stevenson
- **Director:** Arkasha Stevenson
- **Screenplay:** Arkasha Stevenson, Tim Smith, Keith Thomas
- **Story:** Ben Jacoby
- **Cinematography:** Aaron Morton
- **Editor:** Amy E. Duddleston, Bob Murawski
- **Music:** Mark Korven
- **Production design:** Eve Stewart
- **Costume design:** Paco Delgado
- **Producer:** Keith Levine, David S. Goyer
- **Cast:** Nell Tiger Free as Margaret; Ralph Ineson as Father Brennan; Sônia Braga as Sister Silva; Tawfeek Barhom as Father Gabriel; María Caballero as Luz; Charles Dance as Father Harris; Bill Nighy as Cardinal Lawrence; Nicole Sorace as Carlita
- **Runtime:** 1h 59m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 5 April 2024
- **Genres:** Horror
- **Budget:** $30 million
- **Box office:** $54 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GMiIRitv5s

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: streaming, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The Omen* (1976): The film this one is answering to; slower, colder, and it never explains itself.
- *Rosemary's Baby* (1968), Fi1m 92: A pregnancy, a building full of helpful neighbours, and dread that never once raises its voice. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/rosemarys-baby.md)
- *The Devils* (1971): Ken Russell’s convent goes properly mad; still shocking, still banned in places, still magnificent to look at.
- *Saint Maud* (2019), Fi1m 82: A young woman’s faith curdles in a seaside town; small, exact and frightening. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/saint-maud.md)
- *Suspiria* (1977): An American girl, an Italian institution, and colour used as a weapon.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-first-omen