The First Omen Ending Explained: Decoding Climactic Twist and ‘Jackal’ Deception – Your Top 5 Questions on Nell Tiger Free’s Horror Film, Answered! (SPOILER ALERT)

Arkasha Stevenson's feature-length directorial debut, The First Omen, serves as a prequel to the supernatural classic thriller, The Omen. The 1976 film, directed by the great Richard Donner and starring the iconic Gregory Peck, revolves around an American senator named Thorn who, unbeknownst to his wife, replaces their stillborn child with an orphaned baby boy, Damien, and raises him as their own. Sinister events unfold as Damien turns five, including the suicide of his nanny, ominous occurrences, and the unsettling revelation from a priest named Brennan that Damien is, in fact, the son of the Devil himself. Initially sceptical, Thorn becomes increasingly convinced of Damien's unholy nature as tragic events unfold around them. The First Omen Movie Review: Nell Tiger Free’s Splendid Performance Uplifts This Gruesome Yet Absorbing Prequel to The Omen.

The First Omen predates the events of The Omen by a year, delving into the circumstances leading to Damien's unnatural birth. The film follows an American novitiate named Margaret (played by Nell Tiger Free) who travels to Rome to take her vows and begins working at a church-run orphanage. There, she forms a bond with a mysterious orphan named Carlita and becomes disturbed by the eerie occurrences at the orphanage. As Margaret experiences terrifying visions, she discovers unsettling truths about Carlita's origins and the sinister plans of an underground cult within the Church.

She also begins to reexperience terrifying visions, which Carlita claims she is also experiencing. Margaret comes across Father Brennan, who tells her to stay away from Carlita as bad things are bound to happen around her. Brennan tells her that Carlita is being prepped by an underground cult within the Church to be impregnated by a devilish entity, and she would give birth to the Antichrist. When she tries to find the truth of Carlita's birth, Margaret discovers several children are born with the same surname as Carlita, 'Scianna'. It is then she learns a devastating truth.

After watching The First Omen, viewers may have lingering questions about the film's implications. Let's explore five of these questions:

Was Margaret Always The Vessel for Antichrist?

Only two children born out of the rape by the devilish entity survived out of the many. One of them was Carlita, and the other was Margaret, much to the nun's horror. Margaret realises the baby in the picture that Brennan was carrying is not Carlita but her, and remembering Paolo's cryptic hint before he died, Margaret finds the '666' mark in her head. Margaret then begins to remember what happened the night when she went to the pub with Luz.

When she had blacked out, Margaret remembers she was raped by the demon and is now pregnant with his baby. It was told earlier that Antichrist would only be a male (all the babies born were female) and he would only be born if the demon impregnated one of its surviving female offsprings. So Margaret was always the intended main vessel, and if that didn't work out, then Carlita was prepped for the same.

How Does the Climax Lead to The Omen?

After Margaret gives birth to twins, one female and one male who is the intended Antichrist, and then kills Father Lawrence, the other nuns carry the son and leave her, the female baby, and the 'jackal' for dead. Later, in a car, we see a priest (who looks like the priest who convinced Senator Thorn to adopt Damien at the start of The Omen) show Thorn's file to Luz, who has baby Damien, and tells her that the kid needs to grow up as Thorn's son. We also see how Thorn's wife gives birth to a live baby (that was killed later), but he is told that it is dead before being shown baby Damien, reflecting the start of The Omen. However, I wonder why there was a need to make him adopt the kid, and instead get baby Damien exchanged with Thorn's baby in the operating room itself so even he would have been oblivious like his wife of the switcheroo.

In case you haven't watched The Omen, the reason they select Thorn as his foster father is that according to a prophecy, the Antichrist will delve into the field of politics, which allows him to divide people and make a brother fight against a brother. Senator Robert Thorn's family was the best route to make that happen. Extraction 2 Ending Explained: Decoding the Finale of the Netflix Film and Whether Chris Hemsworth's Tyler Rake Will Return for Another Mission.

How Does The First Omen Change Damien's Birth?

In The Omen, there's an intriguing allusion suggesting that Damien's mother might be a jackal. Brennan nearly blurts this out to Thorn before being cut off. Thorn and the ill-fated reporter Jennings even stumble upon jackal remains in the grave supposed to hold Damian's mother, identified as 'Maria Scianna'. However, in The First Omen, we learn that the 'jackal' is actually Damien's father (the real mother was shown to be alive during the events of The Omen). Hence, it's plausible that the jackal carcass in the grave belonged to Damien's 'father,' who met his demise in the climax of The First Omen.

Another inconsistency regarding Damien emerges across both films: why was he brought into the world? In The Omen, it's conveyed that a cult of Satanists summoned him to bring about destruction to the world. Yet, in The First Omen, Brennan enlightens Margaret that it's the 'bad' Church who desired the Antichrist's birth to curb secularism and reclaim non-believers. Additionally, while Damien displays fear of the Church in The Omen, the circumstances of his birth depicted in The First Omen suggest otherwise, as the Catholic zionists wanted to control him. Furthermore, characters like the rottweiler and Mrs Baylock, portrayed as agents of Hell in The Omen, are conspicuously absent in the prequel.

Did Father Brennan Lie About Himself?

Father Brennan not only gave contradicting stories about Damien in the span of two movies but also about himself. In The Omen, he tells Thorn that the reason he wants to help him is as a form of repentance. Later, Jennings tells Thorn that the '666' mark was found on Brennan's corpse, implying he was also part of the satanic cult before experiencing a change of conscience.

However, in The First Omen, Brennan tells Margaret that he is part of the Good Church, and it is established at the start of the film that it is Father Harris' final confession to him that drove Brennan to investigate what's happening in the orphanage. So, was Brennan lying to Margaret? Or was he once part of Father Lawrence's cult before he repented and moved to the good side? The prequel leaves us in murky waters regarding this character. Fast X Ending Explained: Decoding the Climax and Post-Credits to Vin Diesel's Action Film and How the Cameos Set Up the Next Installment.

Does Damien's Twin Sister Appear in Any Omen Films?

While the birth of Damien was expected, given that The First Omen serves as a prequel to The Omen, the unexpected twist arose with the revelation of his twin sister, Margaret. She and her baby survive the fiery destruction of the orphanage, a scene also depicted in The Omen, thanks to Carlita's timely intervention. However, the surviving cult remains unaware of their survival. Fast forward a few years, and we find Margaret, Carlita, and the baby girl living together in a secluded cabin. The child has now reached Damien's age during the main events of The Omen, a fact made evident when Father Brennan arrives at their doorstep to warn Margaret of the Church's knowledge of their existence and their imminent pursuit. Before departing, presumably to his demise, Brennan reveals that the baby boy, now known as Damien, has also survived. The scene cuts to Margaret's shocked expression before transitioning to the end credits.

Neither Damien's human mother nor his sister are mentioned in any of the previous Omen movies. This departure from established continuity may signify the franchise's attempt to explore new narrative avenues. The motives of the Church remain unclear—is it the 'good' or the 'bad' Church that pursues them? Since the baby girl was left to perish in the flames, it's conceivable that the 'bad' Church has no interest in her unless she holds the key to stopping Damien.

Given that The First Omen takes liberties when it comes to linking itself with The Omen, its sequel may further reinterpret the subsequent films in the series, especially those that have been criticised by reviewers and could benefit from reimagining.

In an interview with Variety, director Arkasha Stevenson has this to say about the future of the franchise, "I’d love to keep working in this world. There’s so much to play with in religious horror. It’s such a rich subgenre to be working in. We answered a big question with this film, but so many more questions popped up. I am very interested in the Jackal, where he came from. I’m interested in delving into that with the church conspiracy. I’m interested in where Margaret and the children go from here. What’s the future of Layla, Damien’s sister? I could talk about it for hours." So yeah, the baby girl is Layla. 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 06, 2024 10:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).