Horror thriller starts slow, finishes fast
“Competent enough” may not sound like high praise, but it means more than usual when applied to the current state of horror movies or most things Nicolas Cage has been in for the last 15 years. So good for “Arcadian,” a simple but perfectly serviceable dystopian thriller that’s a little too mysterious for its own good yet still serves up tight suspense and cool, icky monsters once it finally gets going.
And the performances? Adequate as they can be.
Cage is Paul, a very concerned father of teenage boys Joseph (Jaeden Martell from the “It” movies) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins of “Lost in Space,” “Jack Reacher”). Paul has moved his family to a rural farmhouse after some environmental
disaster — none of the survivors seem to know exactly what happened — essentially collapsed civilization. Since then, the trio and the family dog have had to lock themselves inside their fortified home by sundown each evening, lest mutated, horrid things tear them apart. This is evident from the nightly banging on their shuttered windows
and bolted doors, the exteriors of which show deep claw gouges in the morning.
Even though the boys have gotten more capable as they’ve grown, it’s become harder for Paul to keep them safe. Joseph is analytical and disquietingly interested in designing traps for the night monsters he wants to study, while Thomas spends
much of his days at the neighboring — but still too far away for comfort — Rose Farm. There’s a girl there, of course, the plucky Charlotte (Sadie Soverall, most recently seen on the big screen in “Saltburn”).
The brothers bicker over many things, though at heart they’re both concerned about responsibility and family loyalty. Nonetheless, Paul’s favorite phrase has become, “That’s not helping.”
Cage plays the father in a constant state of worry and exasperation, but in a low, measured key. Don’t expect an iota of the actor’s signature extreme nuttiness here; Paul has been so methodical about what needs to be done for so long that love for his sons seems like the only thing separating him from a zombie. It’s a solid performance that all but fades out in the final act, but proves particularly effective when Paul must take risks, as during a gutwrenching rescue mission in a dark ravine.
Filmed in the Irish countryside, “Arcadian” is often nicely lit by lanterns, fireplaces, improvised torches and other practical sources. Cameras always appear to be in the right places, even when filmmaker Benjamin Brewer tries to obscure what’s going on.
The director, who was the lead visual effects artist for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” also designed the creatures, which look reptilian or insectoid much like xenomorphs from “Alien,” depending on the camera angle. Unlike in lazier horror movies, though, the monsters’ morphing shapes and varied powers make for pretty scary moments once we finally get good long looks at them in the film’s second half. The action ramps up so much toward the end that there’s really no time to care whether it makes visual or logistical sense. It’s sustained, exciting and increasingly gory fun that’s a pleasure to get to after some of the film’s earlier, dour stretches.
That’s really all “Arcadian” needed to do. Decent job, guys.