Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for The First Omen

The Big Picture

• Nell Tiger Free's physical performance in The First Omen was inspired by Isabelle Adjani's performance in Andrzej Żuławski's Possession.
• The similarities between Free's Margaret and Adjani's Anna are particularly evident in The First Omen's climax when Margaret battles with an unseen force. Free's performance echoes Adjani's during the famous Possession scene where Anna miscarries.
• Both Possession and The First Omen show a darker, more traumatic side to pregnancy, as both women feel alienation towards birth in their brutal and grotesque portrayals of it.

The First Omen, directed by Arkasha Stevenson, reinvents The Omen franchise in the way it combines the religious themes the series is known for with unsettling and graphic body horror. Much of the story's focus is on Margaret (Nell Tiger Free) uncovering the dark secrets hidden by the church. Initially guided by her mentor, Cardinal Lawrence (Bill Nighy), Margaret begins to find answers through Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson), a priest who has begun to discover the conspiracies within the church. Throughout the movie, Free shows the inner demons Margaret is grappling with through her physical performances, highlighting how these external forces are tormenting her. Shots flip between Margaret's perspective, where the demons are tangible and can be seen attacking her, and shots from the perspective of onlookers where Margaret appears to be fighting invisIble forces. Working with Father Brennan, Margaret starts to get to the root of her demons and why she has such shocking visions — and eventually gives birth to the Antichrist that had symbolically been growing inside her and causing such discomfort.

Nell Tiger Free credits the performance of Isabelle Adjani in Andrzej Żuławski's Possession as inspiration for her physical acting. In Possession, Adjani also plays a woman in so much mental turmoil that it affects her physically. This culminates in the movie's most famous scene, which sees Adjani scream in an empty subway tunnel as she graphically miscarries a baby. Both movies rely extensively on the convincing performance of their female leads and their ability to portray pain in such a physical manner.

'The First Omen' Utilizes Body Horror To Explore Demonic Power

The First Omen feels different from any other movie in the franchise. There is the obvious omission of Damien, who was an important figure in the movies prior to this one. It means the events are less easy to explain as an audience. Even though the presence of the Antichrist seems to linger, he is not a physical being, so his actions are harder to rationalize. When members of the church appear to be possessed by an inexplicable force, there is not the simple explanation that it is Damien's doing — instead, the force feels much greater and more threatening. This exploration of the darker forces within the church feels much grittier and more graphic, particularly in the use of body horror. Right from the off-set, The First Omen shows a frantic Father Brennan questioning Father Harris (Charles Dance) about his concerns about conspiracies within the church. Following the topic of the occult, Father Harris is hit by a falling pipe. At first, he appears fine, but Dance turns around to show a huge hole in the back of his head. It is jolting and gory, immediately setting the tone of The First Omen.

As Margaret travels to the orphanage in Rome, the graphic body horror continues and knits a thread through the whole movie. Stevenson varies the way she utilizes body horror, so it doesn't feel like it is done simply for shock value but instead with intention. One of the first things Margaret encounters is a woman giving birth, which Cardinal Lawrence comments is a shocking sight to anyone who hasn't seen it before. Here, body horror is used to show the brutality of birth, a theme that returns later, but acknowledges it as natural and something that women have always gone through.

As the movie continues, Margaret finds friendship with an outcasted member of the church, a young orphan named Carlita (Nicole Sorace). When Carlita shows a drawing of a pregnant woman being restrained to another nun at the orphanage, Anjelica (Ishtar Currie-Wilson), Anjelica sets herself on fire and hangs herself. Here the body horror is immediate and intense. The way Anjelica acts is shown to be unnatural and controlled by an inexplicable force. The First Omen uses body horror in different ways to evoke different emotions out of its audience.

Nell Tiger Free's Physical Performance in 'The First Omen' Is Inspired by 'Possession'

For all the visceral imagery of The First Omen, the movie owes a lot of its success to the physical performance of Nell Tiger Free. Throughout the runtime, she portrays the way her inner demons are tormenting her so viciously in the way she contorts her body. She noted that Isabelle Adjani's performance in Possession was a source of inspiration for her. Possession follows the breakdown of a marriage between Adjani's Anna and her husband Mark (Sam Neill). The two become increasingly unhinged as they descend into madness, with the movie exploring the way the mind can unravel in the face of trauma. At first, it appears that the reason Anna wants a divorce is due to her infidelity; however, as Mark uncovers the truth, the movie quickly becomes shocking, violent, and gory.

This is most present in the movie's most famous scene, and the moment that Adjani is at her most frightening. The scene sees Anna screaming as she miscarries in an abandoned subway, with fluid draining from her body. It is so visceral and striking because the setting is so empty and vast with a continuous passage devoid of people only filled by Adjani's cries for salvation. As she squirms with pain and discomfort, it is apparent she is not only physically alone, but mentally isolated. Nell Tiger Free's interpretation of this performance is clear in The First Omen, but particularly during an extended sequence at the climax of the film when Margaret appears to be fighting an unseen force, convulsing and contorting her body unnaturally. However, the setting flips as the empty tunnel is replaced with a crowded square, meaning when Margaret's calls for help aren't heard, the isolation feels different. Margaret is dealing with inner demons in a busy place — she is surrounded by people, but she can't find support from any of them. It emulates Margaret's emotional isolation, the rigidity of expectation around her and fear of the consequences of stepping out of line.

'The First Omen' and 'Possession' Show the Darker Side of Pregnancy

Both Possession and The First Omen examine motherhood from a much darker lens, and the strain of unwanted pregnancy. Adjani and Free both show women who feel alienation towards birth in their brutal and grotesque portrayals of it and the strain it has on both women. In Possession, this is done through the miscarriage scene, where Adjani is going through the experience alone and is totally helpless in the situation. The movie was so graphic in this portrayal, that it faced huge editorial cuts to allow it to be shown to audiences. However, in The First Omen, once it is revealed that Margaret is the mother of the Antichrist, she is taken to a dimly lit room and gives birth in front of a large audience. This echoes her earlier trauma, where she was never physically alone but those around her weren't there for support. As she gives birth, the members of the church take care of her baby, knowing it is the Antichrist, but are extremely dismissive of Margaret and the clear physical exhaustion the birth is having on her body.

The First Omen's climax showcases a reluctant mother, and the physical and emotional trauma of her pregnancy. However, unlike her character, Nell Tiger Free described the ability to push her acting in this way as liberating and cathartic, emulating the sense of release Margaret felt after giving birth. The movie shows that after the main events of the runtime, Margaret has managed to move on with her other baby she birthed that day and seems less troubled by her demons. It further heightens the strain the growth of the Antichrist inside her had on her. Free used the physical characteristics of Adjani's performance in Possession and gave an unsettling yet sympathetic performance in The First Omen.

The First Omen is currently playing in theaters in the U.S.

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