I would like to start this review with a major trigger warning, I’m not entirely sure this film is appropriate to cover in a school newspaper, but since I talked about how I was excited for this movie, I will try to cover it anyway. (With as little spoilers as possible while still saying what I need to say.)
Please be aware, this movie deals with very uncomfortable topics that will likely be traumatic for some watchers.
I would like to say, this was probably the scariest film I have watched in a while. The movie was just as horrifying as the trailers promised it would be, so much so that sitting in the theater during some parts of the film was just very uncomfortable.
The storyline is about an orphanage run by nuns. Baby girls are birthed and raised by the church and some are less “well-behaved” than others. Those are the ones who are locked in a punishment room.
The main character herself, now a young woman training to become a nun herself, was also a “bad” child raised by the church, although she never went to any punishment rooms in her childhood.
To spare as many details as I can, one of the girls at this orphanage reminds the young woman of herself as a child.
This is where things become uncomfortable and honestly sickening. A man tells her that the girl she has taking a liking to is meant to be the mother of the Antichrist. The biggest problem with how terrifying this concept is…the girl is a child.
This is an easy dark thought for the main character to push away because she knows the girl is safe with the church, or at least she believes so.
This movie really took the idea of childbirth and gave it an entirely new perspective, as a couple of women actually do give graphic births in the movie, sparing no angle. We also, at some point in the movie, watch as a demonic hand reaches out of a woman’s womb.
Despite the sheer horror of this movie, I think it made a statement about the viewing of women as a whole. One thing about these births is that they always end up being females who come out— most sickly because of the terrible ways they are conceived. The church is waiting for a boy.
In this film, they only view the birthed females and problem children, or as tools they can use to possibly get a male child through impregnation.
Whether this movie is supposed to make a statement about gender inequality views in churches or not, I’m not entirely sure. All I really know is that I left the theater sickened, yet knowing that The First Omen is the best horror movie I have seen in a while.
