Critics reviews

“Omen” is a visually enthralling piece of magical realism proposing ideas on pariahs, culture, and individuality in a world with constantly changing rules. But in devoting so much work to the aesthetic, it falls behind in making sense of its phantasmagoric storylines.

Baloji’s projects exude energy, and here it can be found in everything from Joachim Philippe’s immersive cinematography to Liesa Van der Aa’s pulsating soundtrack. Far from ever feeling like style over substance, though, Omen blends complicated relationships, complex societal issues and spiky political allusions with verve and swagger.

The whole concept of a culture-clash is questioned and undermined by Baloji; culture, heritage, nationality and identity are all shapeshifting concepts here. Perhaps Omen doesn’t completely hang together but it is bold, risky, exciting film-making.

[A]n assured first feature by rapper-turned-actor Baloji Tshiani that never falters in ambition or surprise.

In its best moments, a quiet element of absurdity grounds the spectacle... Otherwise, the film’s frenetic world-building eventually becomes numbing, in part because the uneven human dramas — each one offers a vague message about marginalization — lose momentum in all the commotion.

Omen is hyper-sensory, opting for spectacle over document wherever possible.

Perhaps Omen could have benefited from similarly implying, instead of dramatizing, much more of its unwieldy plot, opening up screentime to devote to the characters... who have great potential but never get their due.

“Omen” announces its writer-director as an artist of significant formal imagination and daring, unafraid to put standard narrative legibility at risk in favor of intuitive sensory suggestion.

Brought to life with dazzling, dizzying costumes, the film’s magic realism aspects and affection for the fantastic lend the story an emotional connective tissue that binds its seemingly disparate stories together.

Baloji has constructed four fascinating characters, played persuasively by these performers, but trying to figure out where their arcs overlap, even faintly, too often distracts from the beauty before us.

The director’s gift for unpacking the way notions of witchcraft can function as fig leaves for trauma, combined with his obvious eye for costumes, lighting, and framing, make for a visually striking, deeply compassionate, and memorable debut.