The Actor's Religious Horror Movie Is Less Extreme Than Expected
The acclaimed actor is likely the perfect choice for a bold horror film focused on Jesus Christ, but not for the reasons certain viewers may think. Truthfully, Cage doesn't actually portray the central religious figure in The Carpenter’s Son: the part he plays is credited merely as The Carpenter. Cage is framed as the Joseph of this story, working to keep his religious convictions while the teenage character (portrayed by Noah Jupe), his adolescent foster child, starts to show divine powers. The reason it's hard to imagine a different leading star playing this part is that even as the role is stricken with multiple challenges, Cage himself seems practically moving convinced that the murky, somber little movie is deserving of his effort.
The Actor's Current Film Selections
Cage was using those years more carefully in recent years. He yet makes more movies than the majority of regular audiences could possibly view — for example, did you know that he has filmed three distinct cowboy movies in the past three years? — but he also mixes in prestige independent films like one recent hit, Pig, and Longlegs. This new film seems like a similar project, in that it’s borderline horror, likely to stir debate, and approaches a over-the-top concept quite seriously.
Movie's Storyline and Direction
Unfortunately, writer-director Lotfy Nathan fails to repay viewer engagement. The film starts from a compellingly nomadic context, marketed as drawing from an apocryphal lost gospel regarding the early years of Jesus. The Carpenter, The Mother, and the boy travel constantly, fearful of religious persecution or doubt regarding their son's mysterious gifts. “Trouble pursues us,” Cage sadly observes. It goes on when evil influences target them in their latest settlement, getting a jump-start with that familiar Biblical temptation for The Boy.
At times, the film mirrors an demonic possession-type horror film, except that no one of the lead characters are clearly inhabited. On the contrary, they are progressively isolated mutually, as these entities influence a nearby girl (Isla Johnston, named “The Stranger”) that The Boy connects to, and presents all unsettling premonitions of a bleak destiny. Cage's role in particular grapples with his position within the plot, sometimes chastising his child he doesn't completely grasp.
Debate and Care
The subject matter is likely to invite debate, and the director treats it with much sensitivity — overly, maybe. The concept of a adolescent facing his destined offering and tempted by mysterious forces is certainly terrifying, but the filmmaker may be wary of appearing sensational and keen to signal his aims, therefore he regularly withdraws to dimly foreboding filming. The figures constantly ponder — the singer-actress, who displayed genuine potential in another movie, surprisingly — yields her performance to her character's costume, at times punctuated by a few gruesome scary visuals.
Cage's Portrayal and Movie's Shortcomings
Meanwhile, Cage dabbles in exactly the kind of exaggerated performance that those who enjoy his campier roles could be expecting. There is a moment (shown) in promotional material in which Cage flips out and shouts “My belief is broken!” Should such of florid outburst is a component of your biblical thriller, perhaps a more openly absurd method would take better advantage of Cage’s willingness to exaggerate when necessary. Rather, The Carpenter’s Son echoes the poorer straight-to-DVD movies Cage made over the 2010s — not the cheesy thrillers but rather the dramas and supernatural thrillers that typically appear interesting, and often contain some select Cage moments, but in the end seem like, well, inexpensive direct-to-consumer content.
Frankly, some of those, while less ambitious, were more watchable in general. At this point I must disregard my usual practice, not religious but work-oriented: Previously, a beloved editor convinced me to eliminate descriptive terms like “monotonous” or “lifeless” from my analytical lexicon. Such terms express scant other than a subjective and generically described restlessness, withdrawing from the task of vividly conveying the thoughtful and feeling of watching an individual production. It's hard to express tedium without sounding boring oneself. It's equally vague as calling a movie “engaging.” “Elaborate,” essentially.
But I must confess, I was bored for a large part of the film. On the positive side, it is a religious style of stultification, not due to this movie is moralizing, but since it takes a type of patient acceptance to watch it. At some point early on, this feature settles into a repetitive rhythm of simmering distress, and does not
