Arkasha Stevenson And Tim Smith Talk Ratings Fight For ‘The First Omen’

The First Omen is a prequel to the iconic horror film The Omen With the collaboration of co-writer Tim Smith, director Arkasha Stevenson spent over two years crafting this feature from script to screen. Like The Omen, this film boasts a great ensemble (Nell Tiger Free, Sonia Braga, Ralph Ineson, Bill Nighy). Stevenson and Smith covered a bunch of topics during the talk, including their fight to get the movie to an R-rating.

Having not seen The First Omen, I have no specific reference on the actual sequence. That said, it is a shot of a vagina that explores the narrative’s body horror elements sans sexualization.

“It was a very long journey for us,” said Stevenson, whose TV directing credits include Brand New Cherry Flavor and Legion. “(It’s a) psychological thriller and very suspenseful, but it also has a lot of really graphic imagery that pertains to the body, especially the female body.” 

“Body horror is so interesting because you’re constantly examining our emotional relationship to our physical form and our fears that surround that,” added Stevenson. “And so it’s I think it’s really important, especially when we’re talking about birth and the capabilities of the female body.” 

Even with this intent, Stevenson’s fight to get an R-rating was not an overnight process. “You can’t shy away from showing female anatomy getting torn up, because that is exactly what the crux of this film is about,” said Stevenson. “And what’s interesting is that there’s one scene in particular where we show a very certain part of the body. And we don’t shy away from it. That was the one image that kept us in a battle with the ratings board. I think we went back and forth five times.” 

“The shot, the piece of the body that we’re showing was shown in like this very – it wasn’t sexualized. Seeing the female form in a non-sexual light is something that a lot of people are not used to seeing in film. It becomes very confronting,” said Stevenson. “The whole shot is about what is happening to the female form. Because we’re not used to seeing the female form this way, the actual body part became maybe offensive to the ratings board.”

Tim Smith deemed it “crucial to the spirit of the film” that this body horror exploration was not compromised. “Thankfully 20th Century Studios and Disney were on board and we knew it was going to be challenging to execute and to get that R-rating. And thankfully we got it.”

Stevenson and Smith also talked about their intricate writing partnership and love for The Omen in the interview. Check out their full talk below!

The First Omen hits theaters Friday, April 5. Would love to hear your thoughts on the movie!

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