On the
review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The critics' consensus reads: "Visually striking and hauntingly surreal,
Omen makes up in mesmerizing imagery and ambition whatever it lacks in narrative legibility."
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian gave the film a score of four out of five stars, writing that the film explores and deconstructs the concept of a
culture clash: "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."
Rue Morgues Michelle Martin praised the film's performances and visuals, and called it, "[a] stunning exploration of Congolese cultural beliefs posits that things that we deem 'occult' exist on the same plane as that which we view as 'scientific,' and the result is captivating." Peyton Robinson of
RogerEbert.com gave the film three out of four stars, calling it "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." Beatrice Loayza of
The New York Times characterized the film as ambitious, highlighting its "vivid symbolism" and, "In its best moments, a quiet element of absurdity [that] grounds the spectacle", but lamenting that "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." == Awards ==