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Nicolas Cage may be the ideal choice for a daring horror film about the biblical figure, though not for the motivations many audiences might assume. In reality, the star does not actually act as Jesus in The Carpenter’s Son: his role is referred to only as The Carpenter. The actor is positioned as the Joseph of this story, attempting to keep his faith as The Boy (portrayed by Noah Jupe), his adolescent adopted son, commences to display miraculous gifts. The explanation it’s difficult to envision a different leading star in this role is that even as the role is stricken with multiple difficulties, Nicolas Cage appears almost moving confident that this murky, bleak feature is worth his time.

The Actor's Current Career Choices

Nicolas Cage has been allocating his time more carefully in recent years. He still stars in additional projects than the majority of casual fans may ever watch — for example, are you aware that he has made a trio of separate cowboy movies recently? — yet he also mixes in esteemed A24/Neon gigs like Dream Scenario, Pig, and Longlegs. The Carpenter’s Son appears to be a similar project, as it’s genre-adjacent, likely to stir debate, and takes a exaggerated concept in a earnest manner.

Movie's Premise and Handling

Unfortunately, filmmaker the director fails to repay viewer engagement. The Carpenter’s Son starts from a compellingly nomadic place, marketed as drawing from an unknown scripture regarding the youthful days of the messiah. Cage's character, The Mother, and the boy relocate frequently, afraid of faith-based hostility or doubt about their son's unusual abilities. “Trouble pursues us,” The Carpenter gloomily remarks. That continues as dark forces target the family in their latest settlement, getting a jump-start with that traditional religious challenge for the youth.

Occasionally, the movie echoes an demonic possession-type possession movie, though not one of the lead characters are directly possessed. Rather, they become increasingly alienated from one another, as these entities affect a local young woman (Isla Johnston, listed as “The Stranger”) that The Boy forms a relationship with, and provides each character unsettling premonitions of a dark tomorrow. The Carpenter notably fights with his place in the narrative, at times chastising the son who mystifies him.

Discussion and Caution

This material is likely to stir disagreement, and Nathan approaches it with a lot of sensitivity — excessive, maybe. The notion of a young man dealing with his eventual sacrifice and lured by unknown powers is indeed scary, but the filmmaker could be hesitant regarding seeming gratuitous and keen to signal his intentions, thus he frequently withdraws to darkly ominous visuals. Characters continually reflect — FKA Twigs, who displayed genuine potential in the 2024 Crow remake, surprisingly — yields her performance to her religious attire, sometimes broken up by several gnarly horror imagery.

Cage's Acting and Film's Weaknesses

Simultaneously, Cage dabbles in just the sort of overacting that those who enjoy his campier roles could be expecting. An instance (featured) in the trailer in which Cage erupts and yells “My faith has been shattered!” Should such of theatrical release is included in your Jesus-themed horror movie, possibly a more openly absurd method would make better use of Cage’s willingness to be extreme if needed. Rather, the film more closely resembles the poorer direct-to-video films he starred in during the last decade — apart from the B-movies instead the narrative films and paranormal movies that often seem intriguing, and usually have some select Cage moments, but in the end seem like, well, low-budget DTV material.

Truthfully, a number of those, though not as grand, were easier to view overall. Here is where I have to disregard my usual practice, not spiritual but professional: Previously, a beloved editor urged me to remove words like “monotonous” or “lifeless” from my analytical lexicon. These phrases communicate minimal other than a individual and generically described restlessness, avoiding the duty of clearly expressing the thoughtful and emotional experience of viewing an individual production. It’s difficult to express tedium without appearing dull oneself. It's equally vague as labeling a movie “interesting.” “Say more,” essentially.

However, I admit, I was bored for a large part of The Carpenter’s Son. On the positive side, it is a devotional type of dullness, not due to The Carpenter’s Son is preachy, but as it requires a sort of obedient endurance to watch it. After a while soon after starting, this feature locks into a cyclic tempo of ongoing suffering, and fails to