Nicolas Cage finds himself spectacularly miscast in The Carpenter's Son, a new biblical horror film that has left UK critics baffled and bored. The grim, grave-faced drama attempts to explore Jesus realising he is the son of God, but results in what can only be described as a messily made and bafflingly acted bore.
A Bafflingly Serious Miscalculation
It's difficult to ascertain how seriously one should approach a film that casts Nicolas Cage as Joseph, the carpenter who acted as the adoptive father of Jesus. Given the actor's reliance on his trademark California intonation and histrionic outbursts, audiences might expect another one of his late-stage career larks, akin to his roles as Dracula or a version of himself. However, in The Carpenter's Son, a perplexingly serious stew of horror, drama, and fantasy, it becomes clear this is not a joke. What it actually *is* remains confusing, but entertaining it most definitely is not.
The film comes from Egypt-born, London-raised writer and director Lotfy Nathan. It draws inspiration from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, a text considered heretical by some, which offers highly debated insight into the early years of Jesus. Nathan signals early that this is not a typical Sunday school drama, opening with a screaming cave-based birth sequence followed by a bonfire of babies, with King Herod's men throwing more infants onto the pyre as mothers wail.
A Wasted Premise and Tonal Confusion
Cage's unnamed carpenter and the new mother at his side, played by FKA twigs, escape this horror. The narrative then leaps forward to show them moving into a remote village with their teenage offspring, known simply as 'the boy' and portrayed by Noah Jupe.
A glimmer of a better film exists here. The premise of following Jesus as an unusually gifted boy navigating his place in a world of conflicting forces holds interesting dramatic potential. His father is joyless and devout, fasting to show devotion and shutting out all light, including views of attractive neighbours showering next door. The townspeople are largely suspicious and unfriendly, save for one strange, lonely girl eager for a playmate.
It doesn't take long to discern the girl's true, sinister nature. However, understanding what director Nathan is attempting with this reframing of a familiar tale proves more challenging. Is it a supernatural coming-of-age story? A balls-to-the-wall gonzo horror? A superhero origins tale? Socio-political commentary on the hurdles faced by a figure of undeniable good? The answer is a muddled 'yes' to all, but a definitive 'no' on whether these elements work together. The film is messy and atonal, saved only by its mercifully short runtime, though it does feature eye-catching locations shot in rural Greece.
Poor Storytelling and Mismatched Performances
The beautiful Greek scenery is about the only thing Nathan can reliably rely upon. His devilish imagery proves nasty yet entirely unscary. Far more frightening is his rushed storytelling; the film escalates at a confusing pace, as if it was hastily chopped up and stitched back together. He appears even less certain of what to do with his cast, who all seem to be acting in different, awful movies.
FKA twigs is as stiff and unconvincing as she was in last year's dreadful remake of The Crow. While Noah Jupe emerges relatively unscathed—his role is merely thankless rather than actively embarrassing—Nicolas Cage is predictably miscast. His performance is stuck between the effective, muted work of recent films like Pig and Dream Scenario and his fanboy-pleasing midnight movie worst, going over the top because no one seems able to stop him.
He is as poorly modulated as the film surrounding him, which never explodes into full-blown horror but lacks the emotional pull to be a drama of any real power, languishing instead in an unsatisfying middle ground. The core issue is a lack of definition, not born from brave originality, but from a fundamental uncertainty about what anyone involved thought they were making.
The Carpenter's Son is out in US cinemas now and arrives in Australia on 20 November and the UK on 21 November.
