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Nicolas Cage is likely the ideal selection for a bold scary movie about Jesus Christ, but not for the causes many viewers may think. Truthfully, Cage doesn't even portray Jesus in The Carpenter’s Son: his character is credited merely as The Carpenter. Cage is cast as a father figure of this tale, striving to keep his faith as the teenage character (portrayed by Noah Jupe), his adolescent foster child, starts to show miraculous gifts. The explanation it's hard to picture another major actor taking this character is that although his character grows burdened with numerous challenges, Cage himself seems practically touchingly confident that this dark, grim small film is worth his time.

Cage's Current Projects

Nicolas Cage has been allocating his time more judiciously in recent years. He still makes additional projects than most regular audiences could possibly view — for instance, are you aware that the actor has completed three different Westerns recently? — yet he also adds high-profile A24/Neon gigs such as one recent hit, Pig, and Longlegs. The Carpenter’s Son sounds like in that category, in that it’s borderline horror, possibly controversial, and approaches a campy-sounding concept in a earnest manner.

Movie's Storyline and Handling

Sadly, filmmaker the director does not reward viewer engagement. The Carpenter’s Son starts from a compellingly nomadic place, presented as based on an apocryphal lost gospel regarding the youthful days of the messiah. The Carpenter, the maternal figure, and their son relocate frequently, fearful of faith-based hostility or doubt about The Boy’s mysterious gifts. “Calamity follows us,” Cage gloomily remarks. It goes on when sinister entities target the household at their new home, initiating with that traditional religious challenge for the youth.

At times, this production echoes an Exorcist-style possession movie, except that no one of the lead characters are clearly inhabited. Rather, they are increasingly alienated from one another, as these entities affect a resident female (Isla Johnston, named “The Stranger”) who the son bonds with, and gives each character unsettling premonitions of a grim future. Cage's role especially grapples with his role in the narrative, at times berating the boy he can’t fully understand.

Controversy and Caution

This material is likely to court controversy, and Nathan treats it with much sensitivity — excessive, maybe. The idea of a young man facing his eventual sacrifice and lured by unknown powers is truly scary, but the filmmaker could be hesitant regarding appearing sensational and keen to telegraph his goals, thus he frequently withdraws to dimly foreboding cinematography. The figures constantly ponder — FKA Twigs, who demonstrated notable talent in the 2024 Crow remake, of all things — surrenders her performance to her Mother Mary cloak, sometimes broken up by a few gnarly horror imagery.

The Star's Performance and Film's Shortcomings

Meanwhile, the actor toy with precisely the type of melodramatic acting that those who enjoy his campier roles may desire. There is a moment (also included) in the trailer where Cage loses control and yells “My faith has been shattered!” If that kind of theatrical release is included in your Jesus-themed horror movie, maybe a more boldly ridiculous approach would take better advantage of Cage’s willingness to go over the top as required. Instead, the film more closely resembles the weaker low-budget movies the actor filmed during the 2010s — not the cheesy thrillers so much as the dramas and ghost stories that often seem intriguing, and usually have some select actor's highlights, but finally come across like, frankly, low-budget DTV material.

Truthfully, some of those, though not as grand, were more entertaining overall. Here is where I need to violate my own dogma, not faith-based but work-oriented: Long ago, a beloved editor urged me to banish words like “monotonous” or “lifeless” from my reviewing language. Such terms express scant other than a subjective and generically described lack of patience, avoiding the job of vividly conveying the thoughtful and sensation of seeing a particular movie. It's hard to express tedium without seeming uninteresting yourself. It's equally vague as calling a movie “notable.” “Say more,” essentially.

However, I admit, I felt uninterested for a large part of the film. In its defense, it’s a churchy kind of dullness, not for this movie is moralizing, but because it demands a sort of dutiful submission to sit through it. After a while soon after starting, the film enters a repetitive rhythm of simmering distress, and never really