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The acclaimed actor may be the perfect selection for a daring scary movie centered on Jesus Christ, though not for the motivations many viewers may think. In reality, the star doesn't even portray Jesus in The Carpenter’s Son: his role is referred to simply as a craftsman. He is framed as the Joseph in this story, attempting to keep his beliefs while his son (acted by Noah Jupe), his teenage foster child, starts to exhibit supernatural abilities. The reason it’s difficult to envision any other prominent performer in this role is that even as his character grows stricken with multiple challenges, Cage himself looks nearly emotionally certain that this gloomy, somber feature is a valuable project.

Cage's Recent Projects

Cage has spending those years more selectively recently. He yet makes more films than the majority of casual fans will ever see — as an illustration, did you know that he has completed three distinct frontier films over the last few years? — yet he also mixes in high-profile A24/Neon gigs like one recent hit, another notable movie, and Longlegs. The Carpenter’s Son seems like a similar project, as it’s borderline horror, possibly controversial, and approaches a over-the-top premise quite seriously.

The Film's Storyline and Execution

Unfortunately, writer-director Lotfy Nathan fails to repay the audience's focus. The Carpenter’s Son starts from a interestingly wandering place, positioned as inspired by an unknown scripture regarding Christ’s childhood. Cage's character, The Mother, and their child move frequently, anxious of religious persecution or distrust regarding their son's mysterious gifts. “Disaster trails us,” The Carpenter mournfully notes. That continues when evil influences attack the family at their new home, initiating on the traditional religious challenge for the son.

Occasionally, the movie echoes an demonic possession-type horror film, but no one of the central roles are clearly inhabited. On the contrary, they grow increasingly alienated mutually, when these entities influence a resident female (Isla Johnston, credited as an outsider) that The Boy connects to, and provides all disturbing images of a dark tomorrow. The Carpenter especially fights with his position in the narrative, sometimes berating the boy who mystifies him.

Debate and Care

The subject matter is apt to court controversy, and the director approaches it with plenty of sensitivity — excessive, maybe. The idea of a teenage boy confronted with his eventual sacrifice and lured by mysterious forces is indeed frightening, but the filmmaker might be wary of seeming gratuitous and keen to signal his intentions, therefore he regularly falls back on darkly ominous visuals. Characters continually reflect — FKA Twigs, who displayed notable talent in the 2024 Crow remake, of all things — surrenders her performance to her Mother Mary cloak, at times punctuated by a few disturbing frightening scenes.

Cage's Performance and Film's Shortcomings

Meanwhile, the actor flirts with precisely the type of melodramatic acting that those who enjoy his campier roles may desire. There is a moment (shown) in the trailer in which Cage erupts and shouts “I’ve lost my faith!” If that kind of dramatic explosion is included in your Jesus-themed horror movie, maybe a more openly absurd approach would be more effective of the actor's readiness to go over the top when necessary. Rather, the film echoes the poorer straight-to-DVD films he starred in through much of the 2010s — not the cheesy thrillers so much as the dramas and paranormal movies that always sound promising, and often contain a few choice actor's highlights, but in the end seem like, well, low-budget DTV material.

Truthfully, some of those, although simpler, were easier to view as a whole. Here is where I have to break my personal rule, not religious but work-oriented: Previously, a respected mentor persuaded me to banish descriptive terms like “boring” or “dull” from my film-criticism vocabulary. These phrases communicate minimal but a subjective and vaguely expressed lack of patience, avoiding the job of clearly expressing the intellectual and feeling of viewing a specific film. It's hard to communicate tedium without appearing dull yourself. It’s no more expressive as calling a movie “interesting.” “Explain further,” that is.

But I must confess, I felt uninterested during much of The Carpenter’s Son. In its defense, it’s a religious style of dullness, not for The Carpenter’s Son is preachy, but since it takes a sort of patient acceptance to watch it. After a while early on, the film locks into a repetitive rhythm of ongoing suffering, and does not