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The acclaimed actor could be the optimal pick for a audacious horror film about the biblical figure, however not for the motivations many viewers may think. In reality, the star does not even act as Jesus in The Carpenter’s Son: the part he plays is credited merely as The Carpenter. Cage is cast as a father figure of this narrative, working to maintain his faith while The Boy (portrayed by Noah Jupe), their adolescent adopted son, starts to show supernatural abilities. The explanation it’s difficult to picture any other leading star playing this part is that while his character grows burdened with various trials, Cage himself appears nearly touchingly confident that this dark, grim small film is worth his time.

Cage's Current Film Selections

Cage has spending his time more selectively lately. He still makes more films than the majority of average viewers may ever watch — for example, did you know that the man has completed several different Westerns in the past three years? — but he also mixes in esteemed A24/Neon gigs for example one recent hit, Pig, and Longlegs. This new film sounds like in that category, as it’s genre-adjacent, possibly controversial, and approaches a over-the-top concept quite seriously.

The Film's Plot and Execution

Sadly, writer-director the director does not reward that serious attention. The film opens in a compellingly nomadic context, marketed as based on an unknown scripture regarding the early years of Jesus. Cage's character, the maternal figure, and their child travel frequently, afraid of faith-based hostility or doubt over The Boy’s mysterious gifts. “Disaster trails us,” The Carpenter sadly observes. That continues as sinister entities focus on the family where they currently live, getting a jump-start on that familiar Biblical temptation for the son.

Occasionally, the film resembles an Exorcist-style horror film, though not one of the central roles are directly possessed. On the contrary, they become increasingly alienated from each other, as these entities affect a resident female (Isla Johnston, listed as “The Stranger”) who the son forms a relationship with, and provides all unsettling premonitions of a dark tomorrow. The Carpenter in particular struggles with his role in this story, sometimes chastising the son who mystifies him.

Controversy and Sensitivity

This material is likely to invite debate, and the director treats it with much delicacy — excessive, perhaps. The notion of a teenage boy dealing with his eventual sacrifice and lured by unknown powers is indeed frightening, but the filmmaker might be wary of looking exploitative and anxious to signal his goals, so he often withdraws to darkly ominous visuals. The figures brood incessantly — FKA Twigs, who showed real promise in a recent film update, interestingly — cedes her acting to her religious attire, occasionally interrupted by several gnarly horror imagery.

The Star's Acting and Movie's Shortcomings

At the same time, Cage flirts with exactly the kind of exaggerated performance that those who enjoy his campier roles could be expecting. One scene (shown) in previews where he flips out and screams “I’ve lost my faith!” If that kind of dramatic explosion is part of a Jesus-themed horror movie, perhaps a more openly absurd style would make better use of the actor's readiness to be extreme when necessary. Rather, The Carpenter’s Son is closer to the poorer straight-to-DVD films he starred in during the 2010s — excluding the campy action films but rather the dramas and ghost stories that typically appear interesting, and frequently include several notable memorable scenes, but in the end seem like, indeed, inexpensive direct-to-consumer content.

Frankly, several of these, although simpler, were easier to view overall. At this point I have to break my usual practice, not spiritual but work-oriented: Long ago, an admired senior urged me to banish adjectives like “tedious” or “uninteresting” from my film-criticism vocabulary. These words express scant except a personal and vaguely expressed impatience, avoiding the duty of clearly expressing the intellectual and feeling of watching a specific film. It's hard to communicate tedium without sounding boring yourself. It's equally vague as labeling a movie “interesting.” “Explain further,” in other words.

However, I admit, I felt uninterested for a large part of The Carpenter’s Son. To the movie’s non-exploitative credit, it is a religious style of stultification, not because this movie is preachy, but as it demands a kind of dutiful submission to watch it. At some point early on, this feature settles into a repetitive rhythm of simmering distress, and never really