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Arcadian Review
Image Credit: RLJE FIlms
Loading...Directed by: Benjamin Brewer
Written by: Mike Nilon
Starring:
Nicolas Cage – Paul
Jaeden Martell – Joseph
Maxwell Jenkins – Thomas
Sadie Soverall – Charlotte
Samantha Coughlan – Mrs. Rose
Joe Dixon – Mr. Rose
Joel Gillman – Hobson
Running Time: 92 minutes
Rated R for bloody images.
The Nicolas Cage Renaissance has been going on for over six years now, and it has shown no signs of slowing down. Cage’s return to prominence after a rough period kicked off with 2018’s Mandy and has been largely fueled by genre pics such as The Color of Space, Prisoners of the Ghostland, Sympathy for the Devil and Dream Scenario. Horror and thrillers suit Cage’s unique style of unrestrained performance and willingness to take risks with the unexpected.
Cage’s latest film also fits firmly in that category. Arcadian, which premiered at SXSW before arriving in theaters today, sees the actor give a more restrained but no less committed performance as the father of two teenage boys in a post-apocalyptic setting. Benjamin Brewer’s horror drama does that quintessential post-apocalyptic thing, setting a story of deep humanity in a world where a distinctly non-human threat lurks in every dark shadow.
As the film opens, we see Paul (Cage) foraging for supplies in a city while chaos reigns in the distance. He moves through alleys as air raid sirens go off and explosions can be heard. We don’t know what’s going on, just that Paul is trying to keep his head down and survive. As he leaves the city, we get a glorious wide shot that shows the city in devastation.
He enters a house where two crying infant boys are and picks them up, assuring them it’s okay. Are they his and he left them there while he foraged? Are they abandoned and he just found them? We’re never sure; all we know is that from that moment forward, he’s their father. Fifteen years later, he’s living on a rural farm with the two boys, Joseph (Jaeden Marrell) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins). It’s not an easy life; they must scavenge regularly but still get home before nightfall, during which spindly, terrifying monsters accost their boarded-up house.
Both boys are going through growing pains. Thomas seeks to spend most of his day away from his father and brother, visiting the nearby Rose farm and spending time teenage Charlotte (Sadie Soverall). Meanwhile, Joseph is a homebody who dreams of not having to be afraid every night and wants to study the creatures – not the safest of notions, to say the least.
The small family’s peace is broken one day when one of the boys ends up in peril, trapped underground. That sets off a chain of events that will test their bonds and force the boys to grow up quickly, lest the lot of them (and a few more besides) fall prey to the monstrous threat banging at their doors when the sun goes down.
Post-apocalyptic stories like this are fairly commonplace, particularly in the world of indie horror. You can’t throw a stone at a festival without hitting someone who’s telling a story of surviving the end of the world. But Arcadian has a few things going for it that separates it from the masses.
First, it has a strong script by Nike Nilon that takes its time to let you get to know the characters. With a small cast, Nilon’s screenplay is able to explore the dynamic between the fathers and sons in the first act, empowered by strong work from all three leads. The trio feels like an authentic family unit and Cage pulls back his wilder impulses for a grounded performance that helps center the film. Martell and Jenkins also do fine work here, playing the brothers like two sides of a coin with plenty of nuance.
Brewer also does fine work behind the camera, guiding the film. He takes the time to explore these three without ever making it feel too slow or dull. And once things start to hit the fan, he really cuts loose. The monsters are creatures of nightmare, slowly revealed bit by bit in ways that make them more horrifying.
Brewer’s ability to draw out the tension is exemplified in a scene where one of the creatures reaches through a hole to a distant person – and their arm keeps going and going in a jaw-dropping fashion. It’s the centerpiece of the film and toe-curling in its silent intensity as we watch, not knowing how this is going to play out.
The further it goes, the wilder the creatures get – and once they attack someone in earnest, it brings the action nicely. Surprisingly, Cage takes a backseat as the film goes on as the story lets Martell and Jenkins take the reins. It’s a canny move as it shifts the film from a traditional post-apocalyptic survival film to a coming-0-of-age story, one that it’s done a decent amount of legwork to establish.
Brewer is unable to maintain the sustained tension throughout, and as the film ramps up heavily in the final act it loses its way into an action-horror piece. The monsters become more obviously CGI creations, though they look mostly fine thanks to some smart use of lighting (or relative lack thereof) in a couple of choice moments.
The balls-to-the-wall final act is certainly fun and has its poignant moments, but it’s also a bit more traditional than what came before. Still, there’s plenty to enjoy here and the flaws are minimal enough, most more a matter of budget than a skill issue. There’s enough of the human drama and the gory violence to keep the pace balanced, at least until its time for things to wild. And by that time, we’re having too much fun to care about the metaphorical seams on the suit of this monster flick.
