By George & Josh Bate
Nicolas Cage starring in a horror movie about Jesus Christ’s childhood? We can hardly think of a logline that has us more curious about a film.
From director/writer Lotfy Nathan and inspired by the centuries-old Infancy Gospel of Thomas, The Carpenter’s Son tells the story of an often-underexplored chapter in the life of Jesus Christ. After fleeing from King Herod, a carpenter (Nicolas Cage) and his wife (FKA Twigs) relocate to a remote village in Roman-era Egypt to raise their teenage son (Noah Jupe). All three remain unnamed in the film, although it is clear they represent Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. While clinging to his faith and trying to remain under the radar, the son becomes the target of a mysterious stranger (Isla Johnston), who tries to entice him to abandon his devout father’s rules. With every pull of temptation, the son becomes increasingly aware of his unique abilities and begins to question facets of his upbringing as his father realizes that the demonic power of Satan may be at work.
Countless films have explored parts of the life, times, and legacy of Jesus Christ, but few (at least to our knowledge) have focused specifically on his childhood and adolescence. The specific slice of history that The Carpenter’s Son zooms in on is when the holy family is in exile and the boyhood of Jesus, periods that are absent from the New Testament. In turn, Nathan immediately establishes an original hook that grips the viewer and lays the foundation for an unsettling coming-of-age horror story.
Shot entirely on 35mm on location in Greece, The Carpenter’s Son achieves incredible visual spectacle through the subtle integration of Biblical imagery amidst minimalist landscapes and sets. At its heart, the film is a tale of good and evil, in which a teenage boy grapples with issues of identity and temptation that hold relevance far beyond Jesus Christ. Nathan uses a barren setting as a blank template to tell a story that, while holding historical importance, is universal in its thematic relevance. Although about a figure as revered and mythical as Jesus, the film grounds itself with a human portrayal of the eventual Messiah. He has flaws, temptations, and spouts of anger, all of which make him a far more relatable protagonist than the average Biblical film and allows The Carpenter’s Son to serve as more than just a historical drama – it’s a surprisingly accessible and relatable coming-of-age movie.
Nathan interestingly opts to tell this story through the lens of the horror genre. Anyone familiar with Biblical tales will know that The Bible and Christian culture frequently grapple with horrifying subject matter, including temptation and the nature of evil, making the horror the perfect sandbox for the filmmaker to play in. And play in, he certainly does. The Carpenter’s Son is unabashedly a horror film, one unafraid to attack the audience with disturbing imagery and even more disturbing themes.
Much of this disturbance comes from the film’s depiction of Satan, which ranks among the most unsettling and subversive portrayals of the Devil in recent years. A mysterious stranger, played superbly by Isla Johnston, appears to Noah Jupe’s Jesus as an alluring, yet dangerous friend initially, whose demonic intentions reveal themselves slowly over the course of the film. But Satan is more far reaching than just Johnston’s character as Nathan’s tense directing and screenplay imply that anyone (and anything) in Jesus’ environment can be the work of Satan. What results is a film in which we feel our protagonist is never far from danger – in this case, the ultimate danger. For as frightening as some of the imagery and sound design is, The Carpenter’s Son proves scariest when lingering on the wide-reaching nature of the illusive Satan, lurking behind every corner, and especially through scenes that allow Johnston’s character to truly get under the skin of Jesus and the audience.
Isla Johnston’s unnerving performance is accompanied by a similarly excellent turn from Noah Jupe. The young actor known for his roles in A Quiet Place and Ford v Ferrari triumphantly tackles his greatest acting challenge yet here with an understated and subtly emotive performance. Much of the film sees Jupe grapple with newfound abilities, navigate strange encounters with people who sense he is something great, and resist temptation put forth by Satan. But Nathan’s screenplay entails that Jupe has fairly limited dialogue at his disposal, thus requiring the actor to convey a range of contemplations and powerful emotions through facial expressions and body language alone. The breadth and depth of Jesus’ internal state that Jupe is able to convey without dialogue is simply awe-inspiring and demonstrates that, without an actor delivering such a performance, The Carpenter’s Son probably wouldn’t work as too much emotional distance would be created between the audience and our protagonist.
In more limited capacities, Nicolas Cage and FKA Twigs portray Joseph and Mary respectively with similar craft and grace. After excelling in the likes of Longlegs, Dream Scenario, and The Surfer, Cage continues his renaissance with an impressive performance that anchors the film. With the exception of a single scene, Cage exercises more restraint than usual as he plays a man who grapples with doubts about his son’s prophecized messonic fate. FKA Twigs, meanwhile, eptimoizes maternal warmth and kindness as Mary with a subtly scene-stealing performance that captures and demands your attention every second she is on the screen. A testament to the quality of performances from Jupe, Johnston, Cage, and FKA Twigs and assured directing from Nathan, the actors seamlessly operate with this world and ensure that, often without extensive dialogue, the film works as a historical drama and more universally relatable coming-of-age story.
Despite barely scraping past 90 minutes, The Carpenter’s Son finds itself meandering for a bit too much of its runtime and overstaying its welcome somewhat. Once the prologue subsides, the film quickly lands on a fairly repetitive narrative structure that fluctuates between unusual occurrences for Jupe’s Jesus to experience and subsequent reflections about his identity, parentage, and faith. A decidedly unsettling tone and plenty of disturbing images prevent the film from becoming tedious, although a tighter edit and slightly brisker pacing would have made the viewing experience less aimless.
VERDICT: 7.5/10
The Carpenter’s Son powerfully and hauntingly chronicles an often-underexplored period of Jesus’ life. A blend between a horror movie and coming-of-age story, writer/director Lotfy Nathan’s film uses gorgeous, minimalistic visuals shot on 35mm to capture an aesthetically barren landscape that allows the film to work both as a historical drama and universally applicable tale of growing up. Populated with disturbing imagery and even more disturbing themes, the film is unabashedly a horror film that will appeal to genre fanatics, perfectly fits within the pantheon of horrifying tales of The Bible and Christian culture, and delivers the most unnerving and subversive portrayal of Satan in recent years (largely courtesy of Isla Johnston’s brilliantly unnerving performance). Noah Jupe, meanwhile, triumphs in taking on the greatest acting challenge of his career to date, delivering a deeply emotive and dialogue-light performance as an adolescent Jesus grappling with his identity, faith, and parentage. Nicolas Cage and FKA Twigs play Joseph and Mary respectively with similar craft and grace, rounding out four superb central performances that are attuned to the tone Nathan aims for. The Carpenter’s Son may meander for too much of its brief runtime, but largely overcomes this issue thanks to its original narrative, strong performances, approachable themes, and full-hearted embrace of the horror genre.