'The First Omen' intensely depicts madness that brought us baby Damien

Just two weeks after the release of “Immaculate,” with Sydney Sweeney playing a young American nun-in-training who travels to Italy and learns her new home holds unspeakable horrors, here comes “The First Omen,” with Nell Tiger Free playing a young American nun-in-training who travels to Italy and learns her new home holds unspeakable horrors.

Both films deal with themes of spirituality and faith and body horror; both films feature religious leaders engaging in deeply twisted and blasphemous and horrific practices. I admired much of “Immaculate” but found its final act forced and manipulative. “The First Omen,” while equally demented, concludes on just the right note, especially for those of us who remember Richard Donner’s 1976 horror classic, “The Omen,” which would merit serious consideration as the scariest religious-themed film of the 1970s were it not for the GOAT, and I speak of course of “The Exorcist.”

Directed with an intense, fever-dream style by Akasha Stevenson (who wrote the screenplay with Tim Smith and Keith Thomas), featuring an electric performance by Nell Tiger Free and stellar work from a supporting cast led by Sônia Braga and Bill Nighy (talk about adding some cinema cred!), “The First Omen” takes us right to the doorstep of the 1976 film in chillingly effective fashion. It’s the Damien origin story we never knew we needed.

“The First Omen” is set in the Rome of 1971, which is awash in political and social protests, with the Roman Catholic Church finding itself becoming increasingly irrelevant to large numbers of young people. Free, the English actress known for her work on the TV series “Game of Thrones” (as Myrcella Baratheon) and “Servant” (as the nanny, Leanne Grayson), delivers next-level, star-power work as Margaret, an American novice sent to Rome to work in an orphanage during her novitiate.

Her mentor, Cardinal Lawrence (Bill Nighy), suggests that perhaps Margaret can help the church reconnect with people of her generation. Mostly, though, Margaret will be teaching the girls in the orphanage (she grew up an orphan in America and thus feels a connection to the children) and learning from the likes of Sister Silvia (Sônia Braga), the abbess at the orphanage who initially comes across as kindly and caring.

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But this is one of those cavernous institutions where you often hear screams off in the distance, and when you peer into a room and catch a glimpse of something mysterious and perhaps nefarious in the offing, someone will rush up and abruptly shut the door in your face. Also, good luck sleeping at night, what with the wind rustling and the sounds of eerie whispering, and is that SOMEONE STANDING RIGHT THERE IN THE SHADOWS?!?!

With cinematographer Aaron Morton and the production design team making great use of the Rome locale, “The First Omen” wastes little time in plunging Margaret into a number of experiences that are clearly outside of the novitiate playbook. She joins her rebellious roommate Luz (Maria Caballero) for a night of clubbing, drinking and flirting with a young man for the first time in her life, and she establishes a connection with the troubled adolescent orphan girl Carlita (Nicole Sorace), despite the hierarchy’s warnings to steer clear of Carlita.

Then there’s Ralph Ineson’s Father Brennan (a character who appeared in the original film), a defrocked and seemingly paranoid priest who warns Margaret of a wide-ranging conspiracy in the church that sounds absolutely bonkers — but is it? (“The First Omen” pays homage to the original film in other ways as well, e.g., a very public and shocking suicide.) As the story begins to traffic in “Rosemary’s Baby” territory, director Stevenson peppers the action with a number of jump-scares, and we’re inundated with some of the most haunting and grotesque artwork and photos in recent memory.

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We know this is the story of how Damien came to be — how he was conceived and how he was born, at which point he was handed over to the American diplomat Robert Thorn and his wife, Katherine. (This is not a spoiler; it’s the beginning of “The Omen.”) Some of the visuals in “The First Omen” are so warped and disturbing you have to resist the temptation to look away from the screen, even as you’re acknowledging the absolute outlandish nature of this story.

In a horror film that takes such big swings, the performance of the Final Girl is everything. She’s experiencing all this madness along with us, and we have to believe her reactions. As Margaret, Nell Tiger Free delivers work bursting with physicality and expressiveness. It’s one of the most impressive performances in any film, regardless of genre, so far this year.