The First Omen Ending Explained: First a Nun, Then a Devil?
The First Omen is the newest addition to an extensive horror franchise, following the trend of classic series like “Halloween” and “The Exorcist”, which were modernized with reinventions and expansions. This film connects directly to the original series, acting as a prequel to “The Prophecy”. Its outcome leads directly to the events of the first film, providing a surprising revelation about Damien Thorn’s biological parents. In the process, The First Prophecy discreetly introduces several changes to the mythology established by the original film. This involves the rediscovery of Damien’s mother and the circumstances of her birth, as well as adding a new dimension with the introduction of a twin sister. The film also progressively uncovers the surprising group responsible for the events of the series and their reasons for creating the Antichrist. These are the biggest twists at the end of The First Prophecy and how they set the stage for future sequels in the franchise.
Almost fifty years have passed since Damien Thorn, the cinematic Antichrist par excellence, entered the collective imagination thanks to director Richard Donner and screenwriter David Seltzer. His is a saga which, with ups and downs, has made the history of horror, and now continues in a new guise with the prequel The First Omen: the story of how the son of Satan came into the world, a background that connects directly to Donner’s progenitor but also leaves doors open for new films focused on new aspects of the Thorn family saga (you can read more about it in our review). What creates this crossroads is the last part of the film, a predictable and surprising conclusion at the same time, which we want to try to analyze with our explanation of the ending of The First Omen. This article contains spoilers (for the entire franchise).
The First Omen: Plot Summary
The story behind The First Omen is built around its protagonist Margaret (Nell Tiger Free) and the choice to take the veil, after a long journey in the church in this sense. In Rome just before the 1970s, therefore, we find this young woman who has just moved from America to take part in one of the key moments of her life and her faith. Accompanied by a series of characters who introduce her to her own path in this sense, however, not everything goes as she would have expected, finding herself involved in a sort of dark conspiracy within the same church in which it seems that some prominent members are trying to bring the Antichrist alive.
Evil on Earth, therefore, manifests itself in the form of a child, emerging from the darkest and most distressing of darkness, to then coldly bind itself to a religious system that should embody the opposite vision. The First Omen develops starting from a mystery that has its roots deep within, embracing both the conceptual and psychological dimensions, closely connected with human faith. Alongside Margaret, we also find the character of Carlita (Nicole Sorace), a disturbed young woman who is also involved in the ritual shadows at the center of the narrative. The link between the two and the readings of a context devoid of morals accentuate the thriller soul of a story in which horror remains constant.
The First Omen Ending Explained: First a Nun, Then a Devil?
After initially suspecting that the young orphan Carlita Scianna was the girl chosen by the Church to give birth to the Antichrist, the novice Margaret Daino discovers that she is the chosen one, one of two little girls alive as a result of blasphemous clerical experiments and healthy (the other is Carlita). She tries to have an abortion, but she is intercepted by Cardinal Lawrence and his henchmen, including a doctor who gives her a cesarean section and reveals that Margaret is expecting twins: a girl and, to the delight of the sect, a boy.
Margaret tries to kill the newborn but is stopped and left to die while the crypt where the operation took place burns down. With Carlita’s help, she manages to escape together with her daughter, after having a vision of the demonic jackal who impregnated her and her dying in the flames. The sect entrusts the male to Robert Thorn, starting the events of the first film of the saga. A few years later, Father Brennan contacts Margaret, who lives isolated in the mountains with Carlita and the little girl, to warn her: that the sect knows that they are still alive and will come looking for them because the Antichrist’s sister will be important in the future. Before leaving, he reveals to her that his son has a name: Damien.
Cursed Motherhood?
Director Arkasha Stevenson approached the project specifically because of how she proposed to address the topic of demonic filiation by emphasizing an aspect that was barely mentioned in previous films (although in a decidedly strong and sickening way): the identity of Damien’s mother. In Donner’s film, she was identified as a jackal, and we saw her remains in a tomb in Cerveteri (with the surname Scianna, which here we discover is the code name for all the little girls born from the Church’s perverse experiments).
Here it is clarified that the jackal in question is the father – and grandfather, since he also fathered the various Sciannas – of the child, the initiator of a vicious circle based on incest and protagonist of the two most explicit sequences of body horror, first when he emerges from the body of a pregnant woman (with frontal shots of her vagina which caused quite a few headaches for US censors), the second when he violates Margaret’s body in a disturbing flashback which reveals the identity of the young like Damien’s mother. Two scenes that in today’s political climate do not go unnoticed, since the film itself, despite being set in 1971, speaks openly to today’s spectators, condemning in no uncertain terms a mentality that treats women as a simple incubator for the males who will dominate the world.
Sister, Where Are You?
The main novelty given the future of the saga is the introduction of Damien’s sister, a new figure who could potentially have the right to her sequel whose events would take place in parallel with the rise of the Antichrist. Until we arrive at a possible convergence that fans of the franchise know well: what if the mysterious little girl, unnamed here, turned up a few decades later with the name Kate Reynolds? We saw her in the third Omen, the one where Damien is an adult and ready to fulfill the prophecy that has accompanied him since birth, and Kate is a journalist whom he seduces, even if she ends up stabbing him in the back once she learns his true identity.
Brennan’s words on the fact that the Church wants to eliminate Damien’s sister would give some credence to this hypothesis, since beyond the patriarchal mentality of the clergy the idea that she will become important in the future suggests that hers is potentially harmful in the twin’s path. And it should be remembered that according to fans (there was never explicit confirmation on screen), Kate would be the mother of the twins destined to take up Damien’s legacy in the fourth film, the one that marked the end of the original saga before the 2006 remake was released. Twins again, perhaps the result of another incest. Everything would return, according to some perverse divine plan professed by Cardinal Lawrence and his followers.
How Does the Ending of The First Omen Connect to the Original Film?
The First Omen is a prequel that chronicles the events before “The Prophecy”, detailing the origin and birth of Damien. The connection to the iconic 1976 horror film is highlighted in the final scenes of The First Omen. After allowing Margaret and her daughter to die in a fire, used as a way to hide their actions, the secret conspiracy responsible for Damien’s birth promptly transports the baby to a nearby hospital. There, they arrange for him to be handed over to the Thorn family, after a “tragic accident” that supposedly took the life of their own son. During the plot, there is an inspection of a folder with details about the Thorn family, offering the viewer a glimpse of a photograph of Robert Thorn. He is an ambassador they plan to use to provide Damien with an existence of privilege and influence. In the film “The Omen”, Gregory Peck gave life to Robert, the main character. It is interesting to note that both Robert and Margaret face a similar dilemma, as they both have a brief opportunity to eliminate Damien in the climactic moments of their stories but fail in their attempts before being overcome.
The True Meaning of the Ending of The First Omen?
The film presents a tragic horror story where the antagonists achieve their nefarious goals. The narrative explores the horror experienced by Margaret at the lengths to which institutions like the Church will go to preserve her power. From the beginning, Cardinal Lawrence is frustrated with the distancing of younger generations from the Church, a motivation that later proves to be central to his involvement in the conception of the Antichrist. Margaret, coerced into the system and conditioned to become the ideal victim, is a key player in the conspiracy. Only when Margaret begins her rebellion and begins to think independently does she put her plans into play and manage to fight for herself. Although it may be too late to stop them, Margaret’s attempt to free herself from control helps Carlita resist the influence of the corrupt church and, consequently, save Margaret at the climax of the film. Even though the film ends on a dark note, Margaret and Carlita’s refusal to submit to authority offers the characters a more promising future, with freedom and happiness, at least until the authorities can find them.
