With the movie The First Omen (The curse, the beginning), Disney, the family studio par excellence, is moving away a bit from its brand image. In fact, this horror drama contains a fairly explicit childbirth scene with diabolical connotations which almost led to the film being banned for children under 17 in the United States. In an exclusive interview, director and co-writer Arkasha Stevenson is still surprised by the latitude she enjoyed for this prequel to the horror classic The Omen (The curse), huge success of 1976 recounting the advent of the antichrist. Set in 1971, this film imagines the genesis of this infamous conception.
“A vagina in a Disney film!” » exclaims the young filmmaker, as if surprised by her own statement.
Technically, The First Omenwhich relates the descent into hell of a young novice involved against her will in a dark plot aimed at the birth of the son of the Evil One, was produced by 20th Century Studios, as The Omenits three sequels and the 2006 remake. However, Disney now owns the banner.
Either way, this sequence showing a not-quite-human birth is destined to become iconic. Moreover, since the release of The Exorcist (The Exorcist), in 1973, no horror film from a major Hollywood studio, unless I’m mistaken, had gone so far in crude imagery (as opposed to independent productions, traditionally much less cautious).
And just as we immediately cite certain famous passages when we talk about The Exorcistlike the scene of the crucifix, we will return to the demonic birth when talking about The First Omen. The imagination is struck.
“There were discussions between the producers, the studio and me, because we were very aware that we were discussing delicate subjects,” admits Arkasha Stevenson. “In the film, it is, among other things, a question of forced reproduction – and more generally of the female body, let’s not forget. At the same time, everyone was supportive, and everyone wanted to push the boundaries, because that’s in the DNA of the original film. »
Themes of your own
Fact, The Omen caused a lot of ink to be spilled, especially with its elaborate kills, and all arranged in the plot not with the proverbial views guy, but with Lucifer.
In this chapter, Arkasha Stevenson makes ingenious nods to two of these notorious deaths. However, the director develops her own vision as well as her own themes. “Among other things, I wanted to address the place of women within the Catholic Church. I wanted to show how, in a religious context dominated by men, where women are oppressed, even those seeming to have a little authority, this encourages excesses. Women can turn against each other due to lack of autonomy and self-determination. Women’s bodies are often treated like meat. Having these characters of nuns and priests, and setting the action in an orphanage which only welcomes girls, that was intentional. I wanted to show how these little girls are conditioned very early on to be vulnerable and malleable. »
As The Omen, The Exorcist, The Nun (The nun) or the recent Immaculate (Immaculate), The First Omen fits into the subgenre of religious horror.
“The beauty of religious horror is that supposedly benevolent figures are subverted. From a young age, we are taught that religion, priests, nuns and all that, is something beneficial. But when we realize that, no, not necessarily, that it can also be harmful, it shakes us very hard. Because it’s like a betrayal of the innocence of the gullible child that we once were. We then understand that we cannot trust something in which we had absolute confidence. When you work in horror, it’s very exciting. »
Speaking of working in horror, this long-in-development prequel project was offered to Arkasha Stevenson after she made a name for herself directing various episodes of exploded fantasy and horror series, including Channel Zero, Legion And Brand New Cherry Flavor.
“My co-writer Tim Smith and I were initially terrified of touching The Omen, for fear of spoiling his legacy: we grew up watching this film. What changed things later was that the first draft of the script that we inherited already put in place, at the end, certain elements that fit seamlessly into the 1976 film. And at the same time, it left us all this blank narrative space upstream, where we could conceive and explore, with the addition of this interesting heroine. »
Growing up with horror
For Arkasha Stevenson, this unbridled cinematic nightmare represents, in short, the realization of an old dream. “Tim and I are obsessed with horror movies. For my part, I grew up with horror cinema, but without being aware that it was unusual. I saw The Exorcist And The Shining at 7 years old… For me, it was just like watching people on television, without it being associated with a particular genre. It fed my imagination. Later, I understood my affinity with this genre, through contact with films which proved decisive in my development. »
Another way to “grow up” with horror cinema…
“I see your t-shirt Possession, by Andrei Żuławski, with Isabelle Adjani: I can’t not talk to you about this film! It’s the one that made me realize that through horror cinema, I could express things that I couldn’t put into words in life,” confides the filmmaker.
In this regard, Arkasha Stevenson had free rein for a very daring homage to the radical cult film Possession. We will not divulge its content, other than to point out that, here again, the film goes very far for a Hollywood production. To reiterate Arkasha Stevenson, rightly delighted: “A vagina AND a tribute to Żuławski in a Disney film, can you believe it!? »
You don’t need to have faith to answer in the affirmative. As to whether The First Omen will succeed in resurrecting the august saga, time will tell. However, let us hope that the audacity of Arkasha Stevenson and, yes, that of Disney are rewarded.
The film The First Omen hits theaters on April 5.