By John Corrado

A young nun begins to discover ominous things are afoot after arriving in Italy. This is the basic plot of the indie horror film Immaculate released two weeks ago. But it’s also the setup for director Arkasha Stevenson’s The First Omen.

Stevenson’s film serves as a surprisingly solid prequel to The Omen, director Richard Donner’s 1976 possessed kid horror film about little Damien, the spawn of Satan. This is technically the sixth film in the Omen franchise (counting the three sequels and the 2006 remake), showing how the child was born.

Set in 1971, The First Omen centres around Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), a young orphan woman who was raised in America under the tutelage of Cardinal Lawrence (Bill Nighy). At the beginning of the film, Margaret arrives in Rome to devote her life to the church and work with the girls at Vizzardeli, an orphanage run by the intimidating Sister Silvia (Sônia Braga).

One of the girls is Carlita (Nicole Sorace), a disturbed older child who is often kept in the “bad room” and furiously produces dark drawings. Margaret feels sympathy towards Carlita, telling her that she was also labelled a “problem child” growing up. But strange things start happening, and Margaret must heed the dire warnings of the paranoid Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson) as she begins to uncover a dark plot to birth the Antichrist; to be born on the sixth day of the sixth month at the sixth hour, with the mark of the beast upon his body.

Stevenson’s film plays into Donner’s original (including the appearance of Father Brennan, played by Patrick Troughton in the 1976 film), while also expanding and fleshing out its mythology. Like any legacy prequel, you could argue that we don’t really need this much backstory for Damien, but there is ample room here for The First Omen to explore the events leading up to his birth, while also leaving itself open for its own sequel.

Even with its few twists, the story still ends up feeling somewhat predictable, not least of which because it has to play within the confines of tying into the earlier films. The film is somewhat drawn out at two hours with a slow-burn feel to it at times. But this also allows the story and characters more room to breathe, such as a scene at a nightclub when Margaret sneaks away with another young novitiate, Luz Valez (Maria Caballero), to experience secular life before taking their vows.

Free is the real star here, delivering a compelling performance as Margaret that encompasses the more physically demanding aspects of the role. With an actress as talented as her in the lead, Stevenson is wise to play many scenes off her expressive face. Through her facial expressions, Free turns Margaret into a sympathetic figure, but also suggests there might be more to her than meets the eye.

Stevenson delivers the standard jump-scares, while also offering some nightmarish imagery playing off Margaret’s Satanic visions (including a genuinely unnerving birthing scene). It’s surprisingly artful at times for a big studio horror film, with moody cinematography by Aaron Morton and Italian Giallo influences. The film also captures the authentic feel of the early-1970s (as opposed to Immaculate’s uncanny valley time period).

If only by virtue of timing, The First Omen will inevitably draw comparisons to Immaculate, with the two films sharing common subject matter and similar though diverging plots. Stevenson’s film is in some ways more sincere in its religious convictions and understanding of incarnate evil, and dare I say offers a more compelling forced-birth metaphor. This is a decent horror prequel that dovetails pretty seamlessly into the original film, and overcomes its occasionally predictable plotting with an excellent leading performance and a strong sense of atmosphere.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)

The First Omen opens exclusively in theatres in wide release on April 5th.