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Nicolas Cage is likely the ideal choice for a daring horror film about the biblical figure, however not for the causes certain fans may think. In reality, the star does not actually play the central religious figure in The Carpenter’s Son: his role is credited only as a craftsman. He is positioned as a father figure in this tale, striving to uphold his faith as his son (portrayed by the young actor), their now-teenage adopted son, commences to display supernatural abilities. Why it’s difficult to imagine a different major actor playing this part is that although his character becomes weighed down with multiple difficulties, Cage himself appears nearly emotionally convinced that the dark, bleak small film is worth his time.

The Actor's Latest Projects

Nicolas Cage has been allocating his time more judiciously recently. He yet does more movies than the majority of regular audiences may ever watch — for example, did you know that the man has completed several distinct frontier films in the past three years? — however he also mixes in esteemed A24/Neon gigs such as Dream Scenario, another notable movie, and Longlegs. This new film seems like in that category, because it’s genre-adjacent, potentially provocative, and approaches a exaggerated description with gravity.

Movie's Storyline and Direction

Unfortunately, writer-director Lotfy Nathan does not reward viewer engagement. The Carpenter’s Son opens in a interestingly wandering context, marketed as based on an obscure religious text concerning the youthful days of the messiah. The Carpenter, The Mother, and the boy travel frequently, afraid of religious persecution or doubt regarding The Boy’s unusual abilities. “Disaster trails us,” The Carpenter sadly observes. It goes on as dark forces target the household in their latest settlement, initiating with that familiar Biblical temptation for the son.

At times, the film resembles an demonic possession-type possession movie, though not one of the lead characters are directly possessed. Instead, they are increasingly alienated from each other, as these forces affect a nearby girl (Isla Johnston, credited as an outsider) who the son connects to, and gives everyone disturbing images of a grim future. Cage's role in particular grapples with his position in the narrative, sometimes chastising his child he doesn't completely grasp.

Discussion and Sensitivity

The subject matter is prone to court controversy, and the director approaches it with a lot of sensitivity — too much, possibly. The idea of a young man confronted with his eventual sacrifice and seduced by unknown powers is indeed scary, but Nathan could be wary of looking exploitative and eager to telegraph his aims, thus he frequently retreats into darkly ominous filming. The figures constantly ponder — FKA Twigs, who demonstrated real promise in a recent film update, of all things — cedes her acting to her religious attire, occasionally interrupted by some disturbing frightening scenes.

Cage's Performance and Movie's Weaknesses

Meanwhile, the actor toy with just the sort of exaggerated performance that his more snickering appreciators could be expecting. One scene (featured) in the trailer in which he loses control and shouts “My faith has been shattered!” Should such of theatrical release is part of a Jesus-themed horror movie, maybe a more openly absurd style would take better advantage of his eagerness to exaggerate as required. Rather, The Carpenter’s Son is closer to the poorer direct-to-video films Cage made over the last decade — not the cheesy thrillers so much as the narrative films and supernatural thrillers that often seem intriguing, and often contain several notable memorable scenes, but in the end seem like, well, cheap home video fare.

Honestly, several of these, although simpler, were more entertaining overall. At this point I need to disregard my usual practice, not faith-based but career-related: Years back, an admired senior urged me to remove descriptive terms like “monotonous” or “lifeless” from my film-criticism vocabulary. Such terms express scant except a subjective and broadly stated restlessness, withdrawing from the task of clearly expressing the thoughtful and feeling of viewing an individual production. It's hard to communicate monotony without appearing dull yourself. It’s no more expressive as terming a movie “interesting.” “Explain further,” that is.

But I must confess, I grew weary for a large part of The Carpenter’s Son. On the positive side, it is a devotional type of dullness, not because The Carpenter’s Son is lecturing, but since it takes a type of dutiful submission to view it. Eventually early on, the movie enters a cyclic tempo of simmering distress, and never really