Nicolas Cage is likely the optimal choice for a daring horror film focused on Jesus Christ, however not for the motivations many audiences could guess. In reality, the star does not even play Jesus in The Carpenter’s Son: his role is credited merely as a craftsman. The actor is cast as a father figure within this story, working to maintain his religious convictions while his son (portrayed by Noah Jupe), his now-teenage adopted son, starts to exhibit miraculous gifts. The explanation it's challenging to envision any other major actor in this role is that while the role grows weighed down with multiple difficulties, the actor appears practically moving certain that this dark, somber small film is a valuable project.
The Actor's Latest Projects
Nicolas Cage has allocating that time more judiciously in recent years. He yet makes more movies than the majority of average viewers will ever see — as an illustration, were you informed that the actor has completed several distinct cowboy movies recently? — yet he also adds esteemed A24/Neon gigs like one recent hit, another notable movie, and Longlegs. This new film seems like in that category, in that it’s borderline horror, likely to stir debate, and takes a exaggerated description in a earnest manner.
Movie's Plot and Direction
Sadly, writer-director Lotfy Nathan does not justify that serious attention. The film begins with a compellingly nomadic place, marketed as inspired by an unknown scripture about the early years of Jesus. The Carpenter, The Mother, and the boy travel frequently, fearful of doctrinal intolerance or suspicion about The Boy’s mysterious gifts. “Calamity follows us,” Cage gloomily remarks. This persists when dark forces attack the family at their new home, beginning with that familiar Biblical temptation for The Boy.
Occasionally, the film echoes an demonic possession-type possession movie, but no one of the central roles are directly possessed. Instead, they are progressively isolated mutually, when these entities infect a resident female (Isla Johnston, listed as an outsider) that the son bonds with, and provides all unsettling premonitions of a dark tomorrow. Cage's role in particular struggles with his place in this story, at times berating the son who mystifies him.
Discussion and Sensitivity
This material is apt to invite debate, and the director approaches it with much sensitivity — excessive, perhaps. The notion of a adolescent facing his destined offering and tempted by dark influences is truly terrifying, but the filmmaker might be wary of appearing sensational and keen to indicate his aims, thus he frequently falls back on darkly ominous filming. The roles constantly ponder — FKA Twigs, who demonstrated genuine potential in the 2024 Crow remake, surprisingly — yields her performance to her Mother Mary cloak, at times punctuated by a few gnarly horror imagery.
Cage's Acting and Film's Flaws
At the same time, Cage toy with precisely the type of melodramatic acting that those who enjoy his campier roles could be expecting. An instance (also included) in previews where Cage erupts and shouts “My faith has been shattered!” If that kind of dramatic explosion is part of your religious scary film, maybe a more openly absurd method would take better advantage of the actor's readiness to exaggerate as required. Instead, The Carpenter’s Son more closely resembles the less successful straight-to-DVD productions the actor filmed through much of the last decade — not the cheesy thrillers so much as the serious stories and ghost stories that often seem intriguing, and usually have a few choice actor's highlights, but finally come across like, well, cheap home video fare.
Truthfully, some of those, though not as grand, were more watchable overall. At this point I need to disregard my personal rule, not religious but professional: Long ago, a respected mentor urged me to eliminate adjectives like “tedious” or “uninteresting” from my reviewing language. Such terms communicate minimal but a subjective and broadly stated lack of patience, withdrawing from the task of vibrantly communicating the mental and feeling of seeing a specific film. It's challenging to convey monotony without seeming uninteresting oneself. It's just as unclear as calling a movie “engaging.” “Explain further,” essentially.
However, I admit, I grew weary during much of the film. On the positive side, it is a churchy kind of boredom, not for The Carpenter’s Son is preachy, but since it demands a sort of dutiful submission to watch it. At some point soon after starting, the movie enters a monotonous pattern of ongoing suffering, and fails to
