The Carpenter's Son

For every highlight of Nicolas Cage's career there are three or four baffling choices which we can now add The Carpenter's Son to the list. Inspired by the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, the film offers a look at the adolescence of Jesus Christ (Noah Jupe) coming into his powers and knowledge of his destiny. Cage, as you might expect, plays the carpenter Joseph who struggles to keep the boy safe and hidden while also attempting to forcibly instill his own sense of piety.

The film presents the story of young Jesus as supernatural horror featuring plenty of violence, madness, disease, and those (including Cage's Joseph often seen arguing with the boy or prostrating to himself to his unseen God) frightened by the miracles the boy can achieve. Souheila Yacoub stars as Lilith, a she-demon on Earth to tempt and torture the boy acting as some sort of final test of manhood as the film falls further and further down a ridiculous rabbit hole from which there is no possible salvation.

While it has drawn the ire of some in the Christian community, the truth is The Carpenter's Son, while at times visually impressive for low-budget horror, is a mess of a film with questionable intentions that isn't worth the time or the energy to debate. More perplexing than creepy and more silly than scary, its belongs with the other best forgotten disappointing missteps of Cages' career such as Season of the Witch, Rage, NEXT, Knowing, and so many others.

• Title: The Carpenter's Son
• IMDb: link