Starring: Nell Tiger Free, Tawfeek Barhom, Sonia Braga, Ralph Ineson, Bill Nighy
OUR RATING: ★★★½
Story: Supernatural horror prequel directed and co-written by Arkasha Stevenson. The First Omen (2024) follows Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), a young American woman who is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, but she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.
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Top Chilling Quotes from The First Omen
Father Brennan: Hiding won’t absolve your sins.
Father Harris: You think I want to be forgiven? I don’t want to be forgiven, Father Brennan. I just want it all to be over. You’ll understand, soon enough.
Cardinal Lawrence: [to Margaret] Even when you were little, I knew you were destined for great things.
Luz: If we can’t admit how we are feeling, our dreams do it for us.
Luz: His voice was all around me. Inside me even. So clearly. And He told me it didn’t matter if I had no earthly home because my true home was with Him. And for the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged on this Earth.
Luz: Tell me. Have you ever been to a bar? A disco? Anything at all? Because your whole life, you’ve wanted to give yourself only to Him, right? Look, I know. I know it’s scary coming out from under the habit, but look at you. You’re a very beautiful girl, Margaretta. And, you have to understand that about yourself. If only to know what it means to give it up. So let yourself feel it, okay? Be brave.
Father Brennan: [referring to Carlita] You must be very careful, Margaret. Bad things will start to happen around her. Evil things.
Margaret: Sister, why is there a bad room?
Sister Silva: Because some girls are bad.
Sister Silva: The things we do aren’t always pleasant, but they are in the name of God.
Cardinal Lawrence: The miracle of life can be a messy business.
Sister Anjelica: [as she ignites herself on fire and leaps from the balcony] It’s all for you.
Margaret: No. No. Don’t! Don’t!
Father Brennan: Listen to me, Margaret. The truth is there are two Churches. The one that follows the teachings of Christ, the one that you and I are part of. And the other.
Father Brennan: What do you think that Church is most frightened of?
Margaret: The Devil?
Father Brennan: Secularism.
Father Brennan: Belief is power. Now, how do you control people who no longer believe in your stories of fire and brimstone? People who do not seem to fear? You create something to fear.
Father Brennan: These priests, believe they can birth the Antichrist and then control him. Allow him to bring his dark forces to bear on the world just enough to drive people back to the Church.
Father Brennan: If no one believes such a thing can exist, who will stand in their way?
Father Brennan: I believe the baby girl in the picture is to be the mother.
Margaret: The mother of what? Of the Antichrist?
Father Brennan: Yes.
Father Brennan: If I am right, Carlita would have been born on the sixth day, of the sixth month at 6 AM. 666. It’s the mark of the Devil which she will have on her body.
Father Brennan: There is a beast they’re mating. A jackal. That’s the father.
Father Brennan: If Carlita is, in fact, the mother, the evil inside her will do whatever it takes to stop us. We must destroy it at all costs.
Father Brennan: We’re not talking about a human child!
Carlita Scianna: Sometimes I get this bad feelings. I see things. And I can’t tell if they’re real or not.
Sister Silva: The girl is sick in the head.
Margaret: Because of you!
Margaret: It’s not real. It’s not real.
Sister Anjelica: [voice] What’s not real?
Margaret: Who said that?
Father Brennan: After all these years, so many failures. They believe the only way is for the beast to mate with its own offspring.
Father Brennan: [after Margaret discovers her 666 mark] I’m so sorry this is happening to you, my child. But nothing will change if you decide to leave. It’s June 6th. Midnight. They will be coming for you.
Margaret: If I am pregnant, then I need it out of me. I need it out of me now.
Margaret: I can’t tell if this is real or not.
Cardinal Lawrence: This is very real, Margaret.
Cardinal Lawrence: [to Margaret] You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.
Cardinal Lawrence: The baby you’re about to bear will redeem the Church. Will bring the people back to God. All because of you.
Cardinal Lawrence: Your whole life, you’ve been searching, waiting for His voice. But the truth is, He was always there with you. He brought you here. He chose you.
Sister Silva: [after Margaret gives birth a girl and a boy] It is important for a child to bond with its mother. We all need the comfort of our mothers in the beginning. Don’t we?
Cardinal Lawrence: You are doing God’s work. He would be so proud of you. Can’t you hear Him telling you? Don’t you hear His voice?
Margaret: No. No, I only hear my own.
[she then stabs Lawrence in the throat]
Father Spiletto: The man you are looking for. The US Ambassador to Rome. He will be the new father. He and his wife will suffer a tragic loss, and be in need of a child. The boy will inherit their privilege and power. Soon, his darkness will spread and the world shall be saved.
Father Brennan: I came to warn you. They know you’re alive. You weren’t supposed to survive. None of you were. Especially the girl. She’ll be important, Margaret.
Margaret: I just want to be left alone.
Father Brennan: I know. But they will come for you.
Father Brennan: They’ve even given it a name. Your son. Damien.