Nicolas Cage's Religious Horror Movie Is Less Extreme as It Sounds
Nicolas Cage is likely the ideal pick for a bold scary movie about Jesus Christ, but not for the causes some viewers might assume. Actually, Cage doesn't actually play the central religious figure in The Carpenter’s Son: his character is listed merely as The Carpenter. The actor is positioned as the Joseph within this story, working to keep his religious convictions as his son (acted by the young actor), their adolescent foster child, commences to show divine powers. The reason it's hard to envision any other leading star playing this part is that while the role grows burdened with multiple challenges, Cage himself seems almost emotionally certain that this gloomy, grim small film is a valuable project.
The Actor's Latest Projects
Nicolas Cage has been using his time more selectively in recent years. He yet makes more films than the majority of average viewers will ever see — for example, are you aware that the actor has made several distinct cowboy movies in the past three years? — yet he also includes esteemed critically acclaimed roles such as one recent hit, another notable movie, and a further title. The Carpenter’s Son sounds like a similar project, as it’s borderline horror, likely to stir debate, and approaches a campy-sounding description with gravity.
The Film's Plot and Direction
Sadly, filmmaker the director does not reward the audience's focus. The Carpenter’s Son opens in a engagingly rootless context, marketed as inspired by an unknown scripture concerning Christ’s childhood. The Carpenter, the maternal figure, and their son relocate from place to place, fearful of religious persecution or suspicion about their son's mysterious gifts. “Trouble pursues us,” The Carpenter gloomily remarks. This persists when sinister entities focus on the family at their new home, initiating with that well-known scriptural test for The Boy.
At times, this production echoes an Exorcist-style possession movie, but not one of the main figures are clearly inhabited. Instead, they grow more and more distant from each other, as these powers affect a resident female (the actress, credited as “The Stranger”) who The Boy forms a relationship with, and presents all unsettling premonitions of a dark tomorrow. The Carpenter especially grapples with his role within the plot, occasionally scolding the boy who mystifies him.
Controversy and Caution
The subject matter is apt to invite debate, and the director approaches it with plenty of delicacy — excessive, maybe. The notion of a teenage boy dealing with his eventual sacrifice and lured by mysterious forces is indeed scary, but the filmmaker may be wary of seeming gratuitous and anxious to telegraph his aims, therefore he regularly falls back on dimly foreboding filming. The figures constantly ponder — FKA Twigs, who displayed real promise in another movie, surprisingly — cedes her acting to her character's costume, sometimes broken up by several gnarly horror imagery.
The Star's Acting and Movie's Weaknesses
Meanwhile, Cage dabbles in just the sort of overacting that those who enjoy his campier roles might be looking for. There is a moment (also included) in previews where Cage flips out and shouts “My faith has been shattered!” If that kind of florid outburst is a component of your Jesus-themed horror movie, perhaps a more openly absurd approach would make better use of the actor's readiness to be extreme if needed. On the other hand, the film more closely resembles the poorer straight-to-DVD productions the actor filmed through much of the 2010s — excluding the campy action films but rather the narrative films and paranormal movies that often seem intriguing, and often contain some select memorable scenes, but ultimately feel like, indeed, low-budget DTV material.
Frankly, some of those, though not as grand, were easier to view in general. At this point I need to disregard my usual practice, not faith-based but professional: Previously, a beloved editor urged me to eliminate adjectives like “monotonous” or “lifeless” from my analytical lexicon. These phrases convey little other than a individual and vaguely expressed restlessness, withdrawing from the job of clearly expressing the mental and sensation of seeing an individual production. It's hard to communicate monotony without seeming uninteresting yourself. It's just as unclear as calling a movie “interesting.” “Explain further,” in other words.
However, I admit, I grew weary during much of The Carpenter’s Son. On the positive side, it’s a churchy kind of dullness, not for The Carpenter’s Son is moralizing, but because it requires a sort of patient acceptance to view it. After a while early on, the film locks into a repetitive rhythm of simmering anguish, and does not
