The Actor's Religious Horror Movie Is Less Extreme Than Expected
The acclaimed actor could be the ideal choice for a daring scary movie focused on the biblical figure, but not for the causes some audiences may think. Truthfully, Cage does not even play Jesus in The Carpenter’s Son: the part he plays is credited only as a craftsman. The actor is positioned as the Joseph of this tale, attempting to maintain his beliefs as the teenage character (played by Noah Jupe), their teenage foster child, commences to display divine powers. The reason it's challenging to picture any other prominent performer in this role is that even as the role is weighed down with various trials, Cage himself seems almost touchingly convinced that the gloomy, grim small film is a valuable project.
The Actor's Latest Career Choices
Cage has been spending his time more carefully lately. He yet stars in more movies than the majority of casual fans could possibly view — for example, were you informed that the man has filmed three distinct frontier films in the past three years? — yet he also mixes in esteemed independent films such as Dream Scenario, Pig, and Longlegs. This new film appears to be a similar project, in that it’s genre-adjacent, potentially provocative, and approaches a exaggerated description quite seriously.
The Film's Premise and Direction
Regrettably, writer-director Lotfy Nathan does not reward the audience's focus. The Carpenter’s Son begins with a engagingly rootless setting, positioned as inspired by an unknown scripture concerning the early years of Jesus. Cage's character, the maternal figure, and their son relocate constantly, anxious of doctrinal intolerance or doubt over The Boy’s unusual abilities. “Trouble pursues us,” Cage sadly observes. It goes on as sinister entities target the household in their latest settlement, getting a jump-start on that well-known scriptural test for the son.
At times, the film mirrors an demonic possession-type horror film, except that not one of the central roles are explicitly taken over. On the contrary, they grow increasingly alienated from each other, when these forces affect a nearby girl (Isla Johnston, listed as an outsider) that the son forms a relationship with, and presents each character unsettling premonitions of a grim future. Cage's role notably grapples with his position within the plot, sometimes chastising the boy he can’t fully understand.
Controversy and Caution
The subject matter is apt to court controversy, and Nathan handles it with plenty of sensitivity — overly, perhaps. The idea of a young man confronted with his future martyrdom and seduced by dark influences is certainly frightening, but the filmmaker may be wary of seeming gratuitous and eager to indicate his aims, thus he frequently falls back on darkly ominous cinematography. The roles constantly ponder — FKA Twigs, who demonstrated notable talent in the 2024 Crow remake, interestingly — cedes her acting to her character's costume, at times punctuated by some gnarly horror imagery.
Cage's Portrayal and Movie's Weaknesses
Meanwhile, Cage toy with exactly the kind of melodramatic acting that his ironic fans may desire. An instance (also included) in the trailer in which Cage erupts and yells “My faith has been shattered!” If that kind of dramatic explosion is included in a biblical thriller, perhaps a more brazenly silly approach would take better advantage of the actor's readiness to exaggerate if needed. Rather, the film is closer to the poorer direct-to-video movies Cage made over that period — not the cheesy thrillers so much as the narrative films and supernatural thrillers that often seem intriguing, and usually have several notable Cage moments, but finally come across like, frankly, inexpensive direct-to-consumer content.
Honestly, several of these, while less ambitious, were easier to view overall. Here is where I need to violate my personal rule, not religious but professional: Years back, a beloved editor urged me to banish descriptive terms like “tedious” or “uninteresting” from my reviewing language. These phrases convey little other than a subjective and broadly stated restlessness, disengaging from the job of vibrantly communicating the intellectual and feeling of watching a particular movie. It’s difficult to express tedium without sounding boring personally. It's equally vague as calling a movie “engaging.” “Say more,” essentially.
But I must confess, I was bored during much of The Carpenter’s Son. To the movie’s non-exploitative credit, it’s a religious style of boredom, not for The Carpenter’s Son is moralizing, but because it demands a sort of patient acceptance to sit through it. At some point early on, this feature settles into a monotonous pattern of simmering anguish, and fails to
