The First Omen

When this came out, I heard a lot of comparisons to Immaculate, as they have very similar plots: the Catholic Church is forcibly impregnating nuns in a convoluted scheme to bring about something that will usher in a new era of worship and relevance for the church. In the case of Immaculate, it was cloning Christ. In The First Omen, it's about making the Antichrist, which they hope to control so that the presence of evil will make people embrace the church again. At their base, though, both movies share quite a lot of structural make-up; a nun being transferred from America to Italy, mysterious church conspiracy, forced pregnancy, and so on. Except The First Omen is a prequel to The Omen, and we all know how that turned out. So it puts The First Omen on a different path from Immaculate. The First Omen, by design, HAS to lead into The Omen, which means it's less about the destination than it is the journey, a problem Immaculate didn't have. And in that regard, I have mixed feelings. I feel like The First Omen was a classier movie, a little more intelligent and polished, compared to Immaculate's atmosphere, which felt a little tawdry and sleazy. It's like The First Omen was made by HBO and Immaculate was made by Lifetime, if that gives you any indication of where my head is. But counter to that is Immaculate had a much more compact run time, whereas First Omen can be a slog, especially in the middle, as it lurches to a two hour run time it did not need. So, the trade-off is a movie that feels less pulpy but too long. I also enjoyed Nell Tiger Free's performance as the lead more than Sydney Sweeney's performance, and I think, visually, this is a better looking movie. But in the end, the overlap here is just too much to say one is head and shoulders above the other. Both tell, essentially, the same story, minus the ending. Immaculate had a more impactful ending, but there was also a feeling of "okay, then what?" that doesn't get resolved. First Omen leads right into The Omen (although they screw up the timeline, but The Omen was never known for having a timeline that made sense), but also somehow has sequel bait for a side story? It's like the difference between Shake Shack and Five Guys; one positions itself as more upscale and refined, the other more like a diner, but they're both overpriced, average burgers. I can't honestly recommend one over the other. They both tread almost identical ground, save for the tone in which they do it. Neither are bad, but neither are memorable or distinct enough to be anything more than fine.