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Nicolas Cage is likely the optimal choice for a bold scary movie about Jesus Christ, though not for the causes some viewers may think. Actually, Cage doesn't actually portray Jesus in The Carpenter’s Son: the part he plays is listed simply as a craftsman. Cage is cast as the Joseph in this story, striving to uphold his beliefs as The Boy (acted by the young actor), his teenage foster child, starts to exhibit supernatural abilities. The reason it's challenging to imagine a different leading star playing this part is that while the figure becomes weighed down with numerous challenges, Nicolas Cage looks practically touchingly confident that this gloomy, bleak little movie is deserving of his effort.

The Actor's Current Film Selections

Nicolas Cage was allocating his time more judiciously lately. He still makes more films than most average viewers will ever see — for instance, were you informed that he has completed several different frontier films in the past three years? — however he also mixes in esteemed critically acclaimed roles for example Dream Scenario, another notable movie, and a further title. The Carpenter’s Son seems like in that category, in that it’s borderline horror, potentially provocative, and approaches a exaggerated concept in a earnest manner.

Movie's Plot and Direction

Regrettably, writer-director the director does not justify the audience's focus. The Carpenter’s Son opens in a interestingly wandering place, presented as based on an apocryphal lost gospel regarding the early years of Jesus. The Carpenter, the maternal figure, and their child move frequently, afraid of doctrinal intolerance or doubt regarding The Boy’s unusual abilities. “Trouble pursues us,” The Carpenter mournfully notes. That continues as evil influences target the family where they currently live, initiating on the familiar Biblical temptation for the son.

At times, the movie mirrors an demonic possession-type horror film, though no one of the central roles are clearly inhabited. Rather, they become more and more distant from each other, as these forces infect a resident female (Isla Johnston, named “The Stranger”) who The Boy connects to, and provides all disturbing images of a bleak destiny. The Carpenter notably grapples with his place in this story, at times chastising the son who mystifies him.

Discussion and Care

This material is apt to court controversy, and the director approaches it with a lot of sensitivity — too much, maybe. The concept of a young man dealing with his eventual sacrifice and lured by dark influences is certainly scary, but the filmmaker may be hesitant regarding seeming gratuitous and anxious to indicate his aims, thus he frequently falls back on gloomily threatening cinematography. The figures brood incessantly — FKA Twigs, who showed notable talent in a recent film update, interestingly — surrenders her role to her religious attire, occasionally interrupted by a few disturbing frightening scenes.

The Star's Acting and Film's Weaknesses

Meanwhile, the actor toy with exactly the kind of exaggerated performance that those who enjoy his campier roles could be expecting. There is a moment (shown) in previews in which Cage loses control and screams “My faith has been shattered!” When this sort of theatrical release is part of a religious scary film, maybe a more boldly ridiculous method would make better use of his eagerness to be extreme when necessary. Instead, the film is closer to the poorer direct-to-video movies Cage made during the last decade — excluding the campy action films instead the serious stories and ghost stories that typically appear interesting, and frequently include several notable actor's highlights, but ultimately feel like, well, low-budget DTV material.

Frankly, a number of those, although simpler, were more entertaining in general. At this point I need to break my usual practice, not religious but professional: Previously, a respected mentor urged me to eliminate words like “monotonous” or “lifeless” from my analytical lexicon. Such terms express scant but a personal and broadly stated lack of patience, withdrawing from the task of clearly expressing the mental and feeling of watching an individual production. It’s difficult to convey tedium without seeming uninteresting personally. It's equally vague as labeling a movie “interesting.” “Say more,” essentially.

But I must confess, I was bored for a large part of the film. On the positive side, it is a devotional type of stultification, not due to this movie is moralizing, but since it demands a kind of obedient endurance to watch it. After a while soon after starting, the film enters a monotonous pattern of simmering distress, and never really