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The acclaimed actor could be the perfect pick for a bold scary movie centered on Jesus Christ, however not for the reasons many audiences could guess. Actually, Cage does not actually play Jesus in the new film: the part he plays is credited merely as The Carpenter. He is cast as the Joseph of this story, striving to maintain his religious convictions while his son (played by Noah Jupe), their now-teenage foster child, commences to show supernatural abilities. The reason it’s difficult to envision a different major actor playing this part is that while the figure grows stricken with various difficulties, Cage himself looks nearly touchingly convinced that this murky, somber small film is worth his time.

The Actor's Recent Career Choices

Cage has been using those years more carefully in recent years. He continues to stars in additional projects than the majority of casual fans will ever see — for example, did you know that the actor has made a trio of distinct Westerns in the past three years? — yet he also mixes in high-profile independent films such as Dream Scenario, Pig, and Longlegs. This new film seems like one of those, because it’s not strictly scary, possibly controversial, and approaches a campy-sounding premise with gravity.

The Film's Storyline and Handling

Unfortunately, filmmaker Lotfy Nathan fails to repay viewer engagement. The Carpenter’s Son begins with a interestingly wandering place, positioned as inspired by an obscure religious text concerning Christ’s childhood. Cage's character, The Mother, and their child relocate from place to place, fearful of religious persecution or distrust about The Boy’s strange powers. “Calamity follows us,” Cage mournfully notes. It goes on when sinister entities focus on the family where they currently live, getting a jump-start with that familiar Biblical temptation for the youth.

Sometimes, the movie mirrors an demonic possession-type horror film, but no one of the main figures are explicitly taken over. On the contrary, they become progressively isolated from one another, while these entities influence a nearby girl (the actress, named “The Stranger”) who the son forms a relationship with, and presents everyone unsettling premonitions of a grim future. Cage's role in particular fights with his place in this story, occasionally chastising the boy who mystifies him.

Discussion and Care

This material is likely to invite debate, and Nathan approaches it with a lot of sensitivity — too much, maybe. The notion of a teenage boy facing his destined offering and tempted by unknown powers is indeed scary, but Nathan might be wary of looking exploitative and keen to signal his intentions, therefore he regularly retreats into darkly ominous filming. The roles brood incessantly — the singer-actress, who showed real promise in the 2024 Crow remake, interestingly — yields her performance to her character's costume, sometimes broken up by a few gruesome scary visuals.

The Star's Acting and Movie's Weaknesses

Meanwhile, the actor dabbles in precisely the type of overacting that his more snickering appreciators may desire. There is a moment (also included) in previews where he erupts and screams “I’ve lost my faith!” When this sort of theatrical release is part of your Jesus-themed horror movie, possibly a more boldly ridiculous method would take better advantage of Cage’s willingness to be extreme as required. Rather, The Carpenter’s Son is closer to the poorer direct-to-video productions the actor filmed over that period — not the cheesy thrillers but rather the serious stories and supernatural thrillers that always sound promising, and usually have several notable Cage moments, but in the end seem like, indeed, cheap home video fare.

Truthfully, several of these, although simpler, were easier to view as a whole. Here is where I must disregard my personal rule, not spiritual but professional: Previously, an admired senior urged me to remove descriptive terms like “monotonous” or “lifeless” from my film-criticism vocabulary. These words express scant except a personal and generically described impatience, avoiding the job of vividly conveying the mental and sensation of viewing a particular movie. It’s difficult to express boredom without appearing dull personally. It’s no more expressive as labeling a movie “notable.” “Explain further,” that is.

But I must confess, I grew weary throughout the film. To the movie’s non-exploitative credit, it’s a churchy kind of stultification, not due to The Carpenter’s Son is moralizing, but because it takes a kind of obedient endurance to sit through it. Eventually early on, the film enters a cyclic tempo of ongoing suffering, and does not