{"id":258366,"date":"2025-11-12T09:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T09:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/258366\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T09:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T09:13:07","slug":"nicolas-cage-in-campy-biblical-horror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/258366\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicolas Cage in Campy Biblical Horror"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe charges of \u201cBlasphemy!\u201d are likely to come fast and furious for Lotfy Nathan\u2019s supernatural horror film revolving around the life of the teenage Jesus. Based on the apocryphal \u201cInfancy Gospel of Thomas\u201d (which I confess I haven\u2019t read), the film strains mightily for a seriousness that it never deserves. I mean, when you cast Nicolas Cage<\/a> as \u201cThe Carpenter\u201d and FKA Twigs<\/a> as \u201cThe Mother,\u201d you\u2019re already kind of throwing in the towel. <\/p>\n

\n\tDespite its handsome production values and an arresting performance by Isla Johnston (The Queen\u2019s Gambit<\/a>) as \u201cThe Stranger,\u201d who turns out to be, wait for it, Satan, The Carpenter\u2019s Son will please neither the faithful nor those looking for a more traditional fright film in which the Devil makes an appearance.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe Carpenter’s Son\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Bottom Line<\/p>\n

\tJesus Christ!<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRelease date: Friday, November 11
Cast: Nicholas Cage, FKA Twigs, Noah Jupe, Isla Johnston, Souheila Yacoub
Director-screenwriter: Lotfy Nathan
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRated R,
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1 hour 34 minutes\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\tSet largely in \u201cAnno Domini 15,\u201d the story takes place in Roman-era Egypt, where Joseph and Mary (let\u2019s not be coy about this) are going about their daily lives while being understandably protective of their 15-year-old son Jesus (Noah Jupe<\/a>, reuniting with Twigs after Honey Boy<\/a>). So Joseph gets understandably perturbed when his son begins hanging out with a mysterious stranger with haunting eyes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI play games all day. Will you play with me?\u201d the stranger asks Jesus, which provides a subtle clue that he may be up to no good. Not to mention his propensity for playing with scorpions.<\/p>\n

\n\tSoon enough, Jesus finds himself increasingly drawn to the stranger, much to his father\u2019s consternation. \u201cMy faith has become a broken crutch!\u201d Joseph exclaims, in the way that only Nicolas Cage can. The villagers are equally upset, becoming convinced that the carpenter\u2019s son and his new friend are evil spirits. A reasonable assumption, considering that highly aggressive snakes are starting to emanate from people\u2019s mouths. Meanwhile, Jesus understandably begins to suffer daddy issues: \u201cTell me who my father is!\u201d he implores the stranger.<\/p>\n

\n\tWriter-director Nathan (12 O\u2019Clock Boys), who grew up in the Coptic Orthodox Church, seems to be sincere in his attempt to present a Biblical narrative from a very different perspective. The Carpenter\u2019s Son is nothing if not solemn, presented with all the gravitas of a \u201850s-era religious epic as if directed by John Carpenter. The performers are equally committed, although Cage immediately sends out campy vibes. Not so much from his performance, which is relatively restrained, but his mere presence. That\u2019s simply what happens when you cast the actor who starred in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Mandy<\/a> as Joseph.<\/p>\n

\n\tSince Twigs and Jupe have no such cinematic baggage, they fare much better. But the real standout is Johnston, whose eyes are so mesmerizing that it\u2019s easy to see why Jesus falls under the stranger\u2019s spell. The actress, who will soon be playing the lead role in Baz Luhrmann<\/a>\u2019s upcoming Joan of Arc pic, has such a compelling screen presence that stardom seems all but assured. Add to that the fact that she can deliver lines like \u201cI am the accuser of light\u2026I am the adversary\u201d with utter conviction and you can see she\u2019s going places.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor all its visual stylishness, The Carpenter\u2019s Son feels like such an essentially misconceived project that it seems destined for future cult status, with audiences at midnight screenings shouting out the more outrageous lines in unison with the actors. Which may not be what the filmmaker intended, but sounds like a lot of fun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The charges of \u201cBlasphemy!\u201d are likely to come fast and furious for Lotfy Nathan\u2019s supernatural horror film revolving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[47872,96,11585,2839,38007,47721,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-258366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-baz-luhrmann","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-fka-twigs","11":"tag-movies","12":"tag-nicolas-cage","13":"tag-noah-jupe","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}