🔗 Share this article

The acclaimed actor may be the perfect pick for a bold horror film about the biblical figure, however not for the reasons some viewers could guess. Truthfully, Cage doesn't even portray Jesus in the new film: the part he plays is credited simply as a craftsman. Cage is framed as the Joseph of this narrative, working to maintain his faith while his son (portrayed by Noah Jupe), his adolescent foster child, begins to exhibit supernatural abilities. Why it's challenging to envision another prominent performer in this role is that although the figure grows weighed down with numerous challenges, the actor appears practically emotionally convinced that this gloomy, grim little movie is a valuable project.

Cage's Current Projects

Cage has been spending those years more judiciously lately. He still makes additional projects than most regular audiences may ever watch — for example, were you informed that the actor has filmed several separate frontier films in the past three years? — but he also adds high-profile independent films such as one recent hit, Pig, and Longlegs. This new film sounds like a similar project, because it’s not strictly scary, likely to stir debate, and handles a campy-sounding concept in a earnest manner.

Movie's Premise and Direction

Sadly, filmmaker Lotfy Nathan fails to repay viewer engagement. The film opens in a engagingly rootless place, presented as inspired by an unknown scripture concerning Christ’s childhood. The Carpenter, The Mother, and their son move frequently, afraid of faith-based hostility or distrust over The Boy’s unusual abilities. “Trouble pursues us,” The Carpenter mournfully notes. That continues when dark forces attack them at their new home, beginning on that well-known scriptural test for The Boy.

Occasionally, this production resembles an Exorcist-style supernatural thriller, though none of the lead characters are explicitly taken over. Rather, they grow progressively isolated from one another, while these powers affect a local young woman (Isla Johnston, listed as “The Stranger”) that The Boy connects to, and provides all disturbing images of a bleak destiny. Cage's role notably grapples with his position within the plot, sometimes scolding the son who mystifies him.

Discussion and Caution

The content is prone to court controversy, and the director approaches it with much care — too much, maybe. The concept of a young man dealing with his destined offering and tempted by mysterious forces is truly terrifying, but Nathan might be hesitant regarding seeming gratuitous and keen to indicate his intentions, thus he frequently falls back on dimly foreboding visuals. Characters continually reflect — the singer-actress, who displayed real promise in another movie, surprisingly — surrenders her acting to her character's costume, sometimes broken up by a few gnarly horror imagery.

Cage's Performance and Movie's Shortcomings

Simultaneously, the actor toy with exactly the kind of overacting that those who enjoy his campier roles may desire. One scene (shown) in the trailer in which Cage erupts and screams “My belief is broken!” If that kind of theatrical release is included in your biblical thriller, maybe a more brazenly silly approach would make better use of Cage’s willingness to exaggerate when necessary. On the other hand, The Carpenter’s Son echoes the less successful direct-to-video movies Cage made during the 2010s — excluding the campy action films instead the dramas and ghost stories that often seem intriguing, and frequently include some select memorable scenes, but in the end seem like, indeed, low-budget DTV material.

Honestly, some of those, although simpler, were more entertaining in general. At this point I have to break my usual practice, not spiritual but work-oriented: Long ago, a respected mentor convinced me to eliminate adjectives like “tedious” or “uninteresting” from my reviewing language. Such terms communicate minimal except a subjective and vaguely expressed lack of patience, withdrawing from the task of vividly conveying the mental and feeling of viewing a particular movie. It’s difficult to convey tedium without seeming uninteresting oneself. It’s no more expressive as terming a movie “interesting.” “Say more,” that is.

Yet, I acknowledge, I was bored throughout the film. In its defense, it is a devotional type of stultification, not because this movie is moralizing, but because it requires a sort of patient acceptance to sit through it. Eventually in the beginning, the movie settles into a cyclic tempo of simmering distress, and never really