Movie Review: The Carpenter’s Son

There are a host of old texts that purport to be parts of the Bible, or at least of the same story, but which the Catholic Church and other early Christians rejected for a variety of reasons. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is one such book and given that it shows a young Jesus coming to terms with himself and even killing other children, it’s not too surprising that the powers that be would want to leave it out. I obviously can’t comment on the veracity of the material, but it does sound like an intriguing tale with some thought-provoking ideas to cover, if not coincidentally similar to 2019’s young superhero horror flick Brightburn.

Beginning by showing The Carpenter (Nicolas Cage) and The Mother (FKA Twigs) hurrying their newborn baby boy out of town before he falls victim to Herod’s soldiers’ grisly massacre of local infants, the film then quickly jumps ahead to The Boy’s (Noah Jupe) teenage years, which sees him beginning to question his father, noticing Lilith (Souheila Yacoub), the comely young woman who lives next door, and beginning to fall in under the bad influence of The Stranger (Isla Johnston). Appearing to him as a girl of similar age with small, slice-like scars covering her skin, she disrupts his understanding of the world by encouraging his emerging rebellious streak and offering up tidbits of information regarding his true parentage.

In case you, like The Boy, hadn’t figured exactly who The Stranger really is, she also presents him with a toy snake. For all his overbearing attempts at “protection”, The Carpenter apparently didn’t make it clear what sort of evil The Boy might have to keep watch for, so it’s not much of a stretch to see why he might follow The Stranger. As she reveals more of the truth to him and he begins to realize his power, it becomes clear that he is heading towards a true test of whether he will turn out to be good or evil.

Anyone with even a passing knowledge of the story of Jesus will of course know the answer to that question, which drains the movie of nearly all suspense. Still, thanks to Simon Beaufils hazily beautiful cinematography and writer / director Lotfy Nathan’s meandering but eerie script, it’s easy enough to remain engaged. It’s clear that the filmmaker, himself brought up as a Coptic Christian, aims to provoke and in that he succeeds. There is some shocking imagery to be sure, but the notion of Jesus as imperfect and wrestling with morality that is the film’s sharpest edge.

Jupe does a decent job as the young savior though surprisingly little is really asked of him until the end. Likewise with FKA Twigs as his mother, who is mostly made to remain expressionless outside of the sequences in which she writhes in agony that bookend the movie. Cage is unfortunately miscast here. It sort-of works in the few scenes that require him to fly off-the-handle, but the rest of the time he gives a borderline comedically bad performance. Johnston is magnetic as The Stranger however, exuding just the right level of menace to make her presence threatening while keeping it from becoming so obvious that it becomes hard to believe why anyone would tolerate her presence. She’s been cast as Joan of Arc in Baz Luhrmann’s next film and on the strength of her acting here I have high hopes for that project.

The idea of framing a “Biblical” tale as a horror movie makes a lot of sense, though those looking for traditional scares will be disappointed with the production’s languid pacing. What Jesus’ life was like as he grew up remains a mystery, making it fertile ground for creative exploration, though the Church denies it has anything in common with Infancy Gospel of Thomas and this movie in turn takes pretty large liberties with that book. Lotfy Nathan’s look at those missing years certainly has its flaws, but there are pleasures to be had for those who are open to what he’s doing. Anyone who thinks they won’t enjoy this though is probably correct. Intellectually stimulating while also somewhat inert, it’s a haunting meditation on divinity, imperfection, and the perilous beauty of choice. ★★★