Summary
- Rich themes of culture, family, and personal identity are explored in this disjointed but thought-provoking film.
- Baloji, a promising director with a unique aesthetic, delves deep into the clash of tradition and modernity with a unique aesthetic.
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Omen
‘s intriguing narrative follows the journey of a Congolese man returning to confront his family and culture, with unexpected results.
Not to be confused with the recent release of The First Omen — though perhaps equally impactful — Omen (originally titled Augure in French, which means “oracle” or “soothsayer”) is an exciting new indie. The film follows a doomed Congolese man who makes the unfortunate mistake of returning to his roots with his pregnant wife to discover a harsh reality: Ancient beliefs of sorcery and supernatural forces are still at work. What could go wrong with a little family reunion after all these years? Lots.
Omen was a hit at Cannes, became Belgium’s Academy Award entry for Best International Feature, and is directed by award-winning musician Baloji. If you’re in the mood for a deep dive down a particular rabbit role, you might learn that the Swahili word “baloji” refers to occult and evil forces, though it once meant “man of science” before colonialism led to a more daunting association. So with a stage name like Baloji, you know Omen has a lot of significance for the director. Now that you’re primed and ready for this Belgian (but French-language) stunner, which happens to be Baloji’s feature film directorial debut, brace yourself for a disjointed, perplexing, but ultimately thought-provoking feature about the clash of tradition, religion, modernity, and more.
Modernity and Tradition Clash in Omen
Omen
3.5/5
- Release Date
- November 15, 2023
- Director
- Baloji
- Cast
- Marc Zinga , Yves-Marina Gnahoua , Marcel Otete Kabeya , Eliane Umuhire , Lucie Debay
- Runtime
- 92 Minutes
- Writers
- Baloji , Thomas van Zuylen
- Studio(s)
- Wrong Men North , New Amsterdam Film Company , Tosala Films
- Distributor(s)
- Utopia
- Rich themes of culture, family, and personal identity.
- Baloji is a promising director with a unique aesthetic.
- The film is intentionally disjointed and can be confusing, with strange pacing.
Omen begins in Europe, where we see budding adult Koffi (Marc Zinga) getting his sizable afro trimmed by his pregnant fiancée, Alice (Lucie Debay). It’s a striking image, seeing a single stripe/chunk of hair gone from Koffi’s mane as she trims, and they discuss their journey ahead to the Congolese Koffi’s birthplace of Kinshasa. The image of Koffi’s wild hair effectively sets the eerie and sometimes even comedic tone of what’s to come in this perplexing tale, which soon continues with them touching down in the Democratic Republic of Congo and confronting Koffi’s long-lost family.
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It’s already off to a rocky start for the couple when Koffi’s sister Tshala (Eliane Umuhire) doesn’t pick them up at the airport. It’s a bit of foreshadowing, as Tshala gets her own chunk of the film all to herself later on. Baloji sets up an interesting four-quadrant tale here, where the overall end result is split between four central characters and how the notion of sorcery applies to each of them in different ways.
For example, when Koffi and Alice gear up to come face to face with the fam — with Koffi hoping to let bygones be bygones and amend past woes — Koffi’s nose starts bleeding directly onto his relative’s baby. The extended clan freaks, and next thing you know, a religious leader performs a sort of ritual on him to rid his presence of evil spirits. The more modern Alice doesn’t buy it all, however, attributing the nosebleed to Koffi’s high blood pressure. It’s relentlessly relatable material about today’s religious and political climates, no matter where you live in the world.
But why was Koffi ostracized from his family before this visit? Why were they estranged in the first place? Well, we also learn that Koffi has a mysterious birthmark that would give Damien from The Omen a run for his money. The birthmark scared the daylights out of his mom, Mujila (Yves-Marina Gnahoua), so badly that she shipped Koffi off to Europe. That’s what you do when faced with a sorcerer, yeah?
A Story of Sorcery in Four Parts
Baloji finds clever enough ways to transition his film between each of the four central personas. To get from Koffi to the next “sorcerer,” we see Koffi and Alice pass through town and witness an outdoor wrestling spectacle led by a young lad named Paco (Marcel Otete Kabeya). Instead of letting the sorcery label put him in a funk, Paco tries to capitalize on it by selling it as part of his image during his public wrestling matches. Can’t knock the hustle, folks! These kinds of elaborate exterior sequences are mostly captured with rickety, fast-moving tracking shots that show promise for Baloji as a burgeoning filmmaker, having already proven himself in the real-life music scene.
Then we’re back with sister Tshala, who — similar to Koffi — doesn’t necessarily feel like she believes in all the dated traditions of her community and family, even if she’s been living amongst it all these years (unlike Koffi). She’s having medical problems and visits the local priest, who we see on more than one occasion during this tale. Actress Eliane Umuhire is sharply appealing as Tshala, as are all four of the lead performers in their respective roles. And if you thought your mom was feisty, just watch out for Mujila and how she lays down the law for those beneath her.
The fragmented nature of the narrative here won’t be for everyone, especially those jarring lapses in time that leave us double-taking and questioning whether we missed something. But sign us up for Baloji’s next feature, please, whether it’s based around the occult or not. The third act turns particularly artsy — watch out for an epic moment involving a bed in the middle of the desert, for example. Ultimately, the film is a fascinating and aesthetically distinct study of how culture intersects with family and personal identity.
From Utopia, Omen is now playing in select theaters. You can find tickets and more information here.
