Robert Thorn (Liev Schreiber) looks at his sleeping son Damien (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) in a scene from 'The Omen'.
THE PROPHECY is clear, the signs unmistakable: Armageddon is upon us. The Omen, a contemporary thriller based on the 1976 classic film, centres around a young boy named Damien (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick), the son of American diplomat Robert Thorn (Liev Schreiber) and his wife Katherine (Julia Stiles). Damien's family is unaware he is destined to become the Anti-Christ - until shattering events reveal the terrifying truth.
Katherine has endured a difficult delivery and she's as yet unaware their newborn child has died. Devastated by the loss, Robert's concern turns to Katherine, who had suffered two previous miscarriages. The news will surely devastate her.
The hospital priest, Father Spiletto (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) presents Robert with another child born that night, whose mother died in childbirth. The priest compels Robert to take the infant boy as his own; Katherine will never know the truth, and their son, which they name Damien, will be raised as their flesh and blood. Katherine embraces the child as her own, blossoming in motherhood; Robert, it would seem, has made the right choice.
DEEPLY DISTURBING EVENTS
Robert's career ascends - he becomes the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain - and the family settles into an estate outside London. But certain events, all seeming to revolve around the now five-year-old Damien, are deeply disturbing: Damien's nanny hangs herself at the youngster's birthday party; a strange priest brings dire warnings to Robert; a children's trip to the zoo results in a panicked frenzy; Damien becomes hysterical during a drive to church, and blurred movements in a series of photographs portend shocking deaths.
The troubling incidents multiply, pointing to something wrong - terribly wrong - with Damien. Enter Mrs. Baylock (Mia Farrow), Damien's new nanny, who seems to have a preordained devotion to the child. Then tragedy strikes closer to home. But only later does Robert comprehend the truth: Damien is no ordinary child; he is the long-prophesied Anti-Christ. Now, Robert must make the ultimate sacrifice to prevent the unspeakable terror that awaits the world.
The Omen, which also stars David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite and Michael Gambon, is directed by John Moore from screenplay by David Seltzer.
