The Actor's Jesus-Themed Horror Movie Isn't as Wild Than Expected

Nicolas Cage is likely the optimal pick for a daring scary movie focused on the biblical figure, though not for the reasons some audiences could guess. Actually, the star does not even portray the central religious figure in The Carpenter’s Son: his role is listed only as a craftsman. He is cast as the Joseph within this story, working to maintain his faith while his son (played by the young actor), their now-teenage adopted son, begins to show miraculous gifts. Why it's hard to envision any other leading star taking this character is that while his character is stricken with numerous difficulties, the actor appears almost moving convinced that this murky, grim little movie is deserving of his effort.

The Actor's Current Projects

Nicolas Cage has been using his time more selectively recently. He yet does more movies than most casual fans may ever watch — for example, were you informed that the man has completed several separate cowboy movies recently? — however he also includes prestige critically acclaimed roles such as Dream Scenario, another notable movie, and Longlegs. The Carpenter’s Son appears to be in that category, in that it’s genre-adjacent, likely to stir debate, and takes a over-the-top concept with gravity.

Movie's Premise and Execution

Unfortunately, filmmaker Lotfy Nathan fails to repay that serious attention. The film begins with a interestingly wandering context, marketed as drawing from an obscure religious text about the early years of Jesus. Cage's character, The Mother, and their son travel frequently, afraid of religious persecution or distrust over The Boy’s mysterious gifts. “Trouble pursues us,” The Carpenter mournfully notes. It goes on as sinister entities focus on the household at their new home, getting a jump-start on the traditional religious challenge for The Boy.

Occasionally, this production echoes an demonic possession-type supernatural thriller, though none of the central roles are explicitly taken over. Rather, they grow progressively isolated mutually, as these powers infect a nearby girl (the actress, named an outsider) who the son connects to, and presents everyone troubling visions of a dark tomorrow. Cage's role in particular grapples with his place in this story, occasionally berating his child he can’t fully understand.

Discussion and Caution

This material is prone to court controversy, and the director approaches it with a lot of delicacy — overly, possibly. The idea of a young man confronted with his eventual sacrifice and seduced by dark influences is truly frightening, but Nathan may be cautious about appearing sensational and eager to indicate his goals, thus he frequently falls back on gloomily threatening filming. The roles constantly ponder — FKA Twigs, who demonstrated real promise in a recent film update, surprisingly — cedes her role to her character's costume, occasionally interrupted by several gnarly horror imagery.

Cage's Portrayal and Film's Flaws

Meanwhile, Cage flirts with precisely the type of melodramatic acting that his more snickering appreciators may desire. There is a moment (featured) in previews in which Cage loses control and yells “My belief is broken!” When this sort of dramatic explosion is a component of a biblical thriller, maybe a more boldly ridiculous method would make better use of the actor's readiness to go over the top if needed. Rather, The Carpenter’s Son more closely resembles the weaker direct-to-video films he starred in over the last decade — not the cheesy thrillers but rather the dramas and ghost stories that typically appear interesting, and often contain several notable actor's highlights, but ultimately feel like, indeed, inexpensive direct-to-consumer content.

Truthfully, some of those, while less ambitious, were more entertaining in general. This is when I need to disregard my own dogma, not faith-based but work-oriented: Years back, a beloved editor urged me to banish descriptive terms like “tedious” or “uninteresting” from my reviewing language. These words express scant except a individual and generically described restlessness, avoiding the duty of vibrantly communicating the mental and emotional experience of seeing an individual production. It's challenging to communicate tedium without sounding boring personally. It’s no more expressive as labeling a movie “notable.” “Say more,” essentially.

But I must confess, I grew weary during much of The Carpenter’s Son. In its defense, it is a religious style of dullness, not due to The Carpenter’s Son is moralizing, but because it demands a sort of obedient endurance to sit through it. At some point soon after starting, the movie settles into a monotonous pattern of ongoing suffering, and never really