Nicolas Cage's Religious Horror Movie Is Less Extreme as It Sounds
The acclaimed actor could be the ideal pick for a audacious scary movie centered on the biblical figure, though not for the reasons certain viewers may think. Actually, Cage doesn't actually play the central religious figure in the new film: his role is referred to only as a craftsman. He is positioned as the Joseph of this tale, striving to maintain his beliefs while The Boy (played by Noah Jupe), their now-teenage foster child, begins to display supernatural abilities. The explanation it's hard to imagine a different major actor taking this character is that even as the role grows burdened with various trials, the actor seems practically emotionally convinced that the murky, bleak little movie is deserving of his effort.
The Actor's Recent Film Selections
Nicolas Cage has spending that time more carefully in recent years. He still stars in more films than most casual fans could possibly view — for instance, did you know that the man has completed several separate cowboy movies over the last few years? — however he also mixes in prestige A24/Neon gigs like one recent hit, Pig, and a further title. The Carpenter’s Son seems like a similar project, as it’s genre-adjacent, possibly controversial, and handles a campy-sounding concept quite seriously.
Movie's Plot and Direction
Regrettably, writer-director the director does not justify the audience's focus. The film starts from a compellingly nomadic context, marketed as drawing from an unknown scripture regarding Christ’s childhood. Cage's character, The Mother, and the boy travel constantly, afraid of religious persecution or distrust over their son's unusual abilities. “Disaster trails us,” Cage sadly observes. That continues as sinister entities focus on the household in their latest settlement, getting a jump-start with that familiar Biblical temptation for the youth.
At times, the film echoes an Exorcist-style supernatural thriller, but none of the lead characters are directly possessed. On the contrary, they grow more and more distant from each other, as these powers infect a nearby girl (the actress, credited as an outsider) who the son bonds with, and presents each character disturbing images of a dark tomorrow. The Carpenter especially struggles with his role within the plot, sometimes berating his child who mystifies him.
Controversy and Sensitivity
The subject matter is apt to invite debate, and Nathan handles it with a lot of delicacy — overly, possibly. The notion of a adolescent dealing with his eventual sacrifice and tempted by dark influences is truly scary, but Nathan might be hesitant regarding looking exploitative and keen to signal his goals, therefore he regularly retreats into gloomily threatening cinematography. The roles brood incessantly — FKA Twigs, who displayed real promise in the 2024 Crow remake, interestingly — yields her acting to her religious attire, at times punctuated by a few disturbing frightening scenes.
Cage's Acting and Film's Shortcomings
Simultaneously, Cage flirts with exactly the kind of overacting that those who enjoy his campier roles may desire. There is a moment (featured) in promotional material in which he loses control and shouts “My faith has been shattered!” If that kind of dramatic explosion is included in a religious scary film, possibly a more boldly ridiculous method would make better use of his eagerness to go over the top when necessary. Instead, the film more closely resembles the poorer straight-to-DVD productions he starred in during the 2010s — apart from the B-movies so much as the dramas and ghost stories that always sound promising, and frequently include several notable memorable scenes, but finally come across like, indeed, low-budget DTV material.
Frankly, several of these, while less ambitious, were more watchable in general. At this point I must break my own dogma, not faith-based but work-oriented: Years back, a respected mentor persuaded me to remove descriptive terms like “boring” or “dull” from my film-criticism vocabulary. Such terms convey little but a subjective and generically described lack of patience, disengaging from the duty of clearly expressing the mental and emotional experience of viewing a specific film. It's hard to express monotony without appearing dull yourself. It's equally vague as calling a movie “interesting.” “Elaborate,” in other words.
However, I admit, I grew weary for a large part of the film. In its defense, it’s a churchy kind of boredom, not because The Carpenter’s Son is preachy, but because it requires a kind of dutiful submission to sit through it. Eventually early on, the film settles into a repetitive rhythm of ongoing suffering, and never really
