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The acclaimed actor may be the ideal choice for a bold horror film centered on the biblical figure, but not for the motivations certain fans might assume. Truthfully, Cage doesn't actually act as the central religious figure in The Carpenter’s Son: his character is referred to merely as a craftsman. Cage is cast as the Joseph within this narrative, striving to keep his religious convictions as the teenage character (acted by the young actor), his teenage adopted son, starts to display supernatural abilities. The reason it’s difficult to picture a different major actor playing this part is that although the figure is burdened with numerous challenges, Cage himself appears nearly touchingly certain that this murky, bleak feature is deserving of his effort.

Cage's Latest Film Selections

Nicolas Cage has spending those years more selectively recently. He continues to stars in more films than most average viewers could possibly view — for example, did you know that he has filmed several distinct cowboy movies recently? — yet he also mixes in esteemed A24/Neon gigs like one recent hit, Pig, and a further title. The Carpenter’s Son sounds like a similar project, because it’s not strictly scary, likely to stir debate, and handles a campy-sounding premise quite seriously.

Movie's Storyline and Handling

Sadly, filmmaker Lotfy Nathan does not reward the audience's focus. The film opens in a interestingly wandering setting, marketed as drawing from an unknown scripture about the early years of Jesus. The Carpenter, The Mother, and their son travel constantly, afraid of religious persecution or suspicion over The Boy’s unusual abilities. “Trouble pursues us,” The Carpenter gloomily remarks. This persists as evil influences attack the family where they currently live, initiating with that traditional religious challenge for the son.

Sometimes, the film mirrors an Exorcist-style possession movie, though none of the main figures are directly possessed. On the contrary, they are progressively isolated mutually, when these entities infect a nearby girl (Isla Johnston, credited as “The Stranger”) that The Boy connects to, and presents each character unsettling premonitions of a bleak destiny. Cage's role notably fights with his place within the plot, at times scolding the boy he can’t fully understand.

Controversy and Sensitivity

The subject matter is apt to court controversy, and the director approaches it with a lot of care — excessive, perhaps. The notion of a young man dealing with his eventual sacrifice and seduced by mysterious forces is truly scary, but Nathan could be hesitant regarding looking exploitative and eager to signal his goals, therefore he regularly retreats into darkly ominous filming. Characters continually reflect — FKA Twigs, who demonstrated real promise in a recent film update, interestingly — yields her role to her religious attire, occasionally interrupted by several gnarly horror imagery.

Cage's Performance and Film's Shortcomings

Meanwhile, Cage dabbles in just the sort of overacting that his ironic fans could be expecting. There is a moment (shown) in promotional material where he erupts and shouts “My faith has been shattered!” When this sort of florid outburst is a component of a Jesus-themed horror movie, possibly a more brazenly silly style would take better advantage of Cage’s willingness to be extreme if needed. Instead, the film echoes the weaker low-budget movies the actor filmed during the 2010s — apart from the B-movies but rather the narrative films and paranormal movies that often seem intriguing, and often contain some select memorable scenes, but ultimately feel like, indeed, inexpensive direct-to-consumer content.

Truthfully, a number of those, while less ambitious, were more entertaining in general. At this point I need to break my usual practice, not faith-based but work-oriented: Long ago, a beloved editor urged me to eliminate descriptive terms like “monotonous” or “lifeless” from my film-criticism vocabulary. These words communicate minimal but a personal and broadly stated impatience, disengaging from the task of clearly expressing the thoughtful and emotional experience of watching an individual production. It's challenging to convey monotony without seeming uninteresting personally. It’s no more expressive as calling a movie “interesting.” “Explain further,” essentially.

But I must confess, I felt uninterested throughout The Carpenter’s Son. To the movie’s non-exploitative credit, it’s a devotional type of stultification, not for The Carpenter’s Son is lecturing, but since it requires a sort of dutiful submission to view it. After a while early on, the film enters a cyclic tempo of simmering distress, and never really