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Nicolas Cage may be the ideal choice for a audacious horror film focused on the biblical figure, however not for the motivations certain viewers might assume. Actually, the star doesn't even play the central religious figure in The Carpenter’s Son: the part he plays is referred to merely as a craftsman. Cage is positioned as a father figure of this story, working to keep his faith as The Boy (played by Noah Jupe), his now-teenage foster child, starts to show divine powers. Why it's hard to picture any other major actor taking this character is that while the role becomes stricken with various trials, the actor seems practically emotionally confident that the gloomy, grim little movie is a valuable project.

The Actor's Recent Career Choices

Nicolas Cage has been spending his time more judiciously lately. He still does additional projects than the majority of casual fans will ever see — as an illustration, were you informed that the man has completed a trio of different Westerns recently? — yet he also mixes in prestige independent films such as one recent hit, another notable movie, and Longlegs. This new film sounds like one of those, because it’s not strictly scary, possibly controversial, and approaches a campy-sounding description quite seriously.

Movie's Storyline and Direction

Regrettably, writer-director the director fails to repay that serious attention. The film opens in a interestingly wandering setting, presented as drawing from an obscure religious text concerning Christ’s childhood. Cage's character, The Mother, and their child move from place to place, fearful of faith-based hostility or suspicion regarding their son's strange powers. “Disaster trails us,” Cage sadly observes. That continues as dark forces focus on the family where they currently live, beginning with that familiar Biblical temptation for the son.

Occasionally, the movie mirrors an Exorcist-style possession movie, except that not one of the central roles are clearly inhabited. On the contrary, they grow progressively isolated mutually, when these forces influence a nearby girl (the actress, listed as “The Stranger”) who the son forms a relationship with, and gives each character disturbing images of a bleak destiny. Cage's role notably fights with his place in the narrative, sometimes chastising the boy he doesn't completely grasp.

Discussion and Sensitivity

This material is apt to invite debate, and Nathan approaches it with a lot of sensitivity — overly, perhaps. The idea of a young man confronted with his destined offering and seduced by unknown powers is truly frightening, but Nathan could be hesitant regarding looking exploitative and anxious to indicate his aims, so he often withdraws to darkly ominous filming. Characters brood incessantly — the singer-actress, who showed genuine potential in another movie, of all things — yields her performance to her Mother Mary cloak, at times punctuated by some gnarly horror imagery.

The Star's Acting and Film's Flaws

At the same time, Cage flirts with exactly the kind of overacting that his ironic fans could be expecting. One scene (also included) in the trailer in which Cage loses control and yells “I’ve lost my faith!” When this sort of florid outburst is a component of your Jesus-themed horror movie, maybe a more boldly ridiculous style would take better advantage of Cage’s willingness to exaggerate if needed. Rather, The Carpenter’s Son is closer to the poorer straight-to-DVD movies the actor filmed over the last decade — apart from the B-movies so much as the narrative films and supernatural thrillers that always sound promising, and frequently include several notable memorable scenes, but in the end seem like, indeed, cheap home video fare.

Frankly, a number of those, while less ambitious, were more entertaining overall. This is when I have to violate my usual practice, not spiritual but work-oriented: Years back, a respected mentor convinced me to remove adjectives like “monotonous” or “lifeless” from my reviewing language. Such terms convey little except a personal and vaguely expressed lack of patience, withdrawing from the job of vibrantly communicating the intellectual and emotional experience of viewing a specific film. It's challenging to express tedium without seeming uninteresting yourself. It's just as unclear as calling a movie “notable.” “Explain further,” in other words.

However, I admit, I felt uninterested throughout the film. In its defense, it is a churchy kind of stultification, not for The Carpenter’s Son is moralizing, but because it demands a sort of dutiful submission to view it. After a while soon after starting, the movie settles into a monotonous pattern of simmering distress, and does not