Shadows on the Wall | The Carpenter's Son

The Carpenter’s Son

dir-scr Lotfy Nathan
prd Julie Viez, Alex Hughes, Riccardo Maddalosso, Eugene Kotlyarenko, Nicolas Cage
with Nicolas Cage, Noah Jupe, FKA Twigs, Isla Johnston, Souheila Yacoub, Pinelopi Markopoulou, Orestis Paliadelis, Elena Topalidou, Manolis Mavromatakis, Thekla Eleni Gaiti, Katie Manolidaki, Dimitris Louskos
release US 14.Nov.25,
UK 21.Nov.25
25/UK 1h34

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Based on an apocryphal gospel about the childhood of Jesus Christ, this moody dramatic horror is evocatively shot in earthy locations with unnamed characters. While writer-director Lotfy Nathan leans a bit heavily into both grisly imagery and Christian cliches, the film's intense tone is fascinating. The important religious and philosophical ideas underpinning the plot may become rather murky, but there are thoughtful elements amongst the gory mayhem.

After their son's birth, a carpenter (Cage) and his wife (Twigs) flee to Egypt to escape the fearful king's murderous campaign against infants. Years later, they are still in hiding, knowing that their now 15-year-old son (Jupe) has unusual power. A man of faith, the carpenter arranges for his son to assist the local rabbi (Paliadelis), while his mother comforts him after tormenting visions of his future. But he's also being continually provoked by a bold young stranger (Johnston) who teaches unsettling things about humanity and makes him question who his real father might be.

While Cage is miscast as the carpenter, he delivers a mainly internalised performance as a frazzled man who knows his son came from God, but can't help but wonder whether he's an angel or demon, especially because he keeps defiling himself by touching the unclean. Which makes needy outcasts see him as a divine healer. The carpenter's growing frustration gives Cage the chance to go enjoyably over the top as a man battling his own demons.

At the centre of the story is the clash between this father and son, as the son defies his father to explore his powers. The gifted Jupe plays him as a darkly shaded teen who is struggling with his identity, glowering like an only slightly less malevolent Damien. Those who witness his magic either want to worship him or kill him. Twigs is nicely understated as his faithful mother, although she remains somewhat sketchy as a movie character.

Filmed in Greece, the grubby, gloomy production design often overpowers the film as it strains to create freak-out moments. And the violence is often outrageously grotesque. But there's also a sense that Nathan is exploring his own coptic faith, although setting this out as a gruesome supernatural thriller seems rather extreme, especially in the outrageously nutty final act. This very nearly obliterates the meaningful points that are woven into the narrative about the power of love and forgiveness to conquer fear and pain.

themes, violence 14.Nov.25

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