Nicolas Cage was once seen clutching a pocket Bible during shooting for “The Carpenter’s Son”—and rumor has it, he spent nights in a Nevada church to “channel the role.” Cage is no stranger to wild choices, but his latest horror outing as a carpenter battling satanic forces divides critics for one big reason: it never fully delivers.
Unique Pitch
Marketed as a “biblical horror with Cage vs. Satan,” The Carpenter’s Son seemed ready to blend faith and fear in a genre that rarely sees Hollywood’s big names. Cage’s character, Joseph, faces demonic tests and visions of his lost son, but the film wavers—leaning toward camp instead of conviction.
Director David Prior loads the script with horror motifs: shadowy corridors, whispering voices, and cryptic rituals. There’s biblical imagery galore—plague, crucifix, even a Last Supper parody—but none connect in the way “The Exorcist” or “Stigmata” once did.
Cast & Numbers
Alongside Cage, the cast includes Lucy Boynton as the tormented Mary and Bill Skarsgård as the sadistic antagonist. Reviews point to strong individual scenes, but box office isn’t pretty: opening with $5.2M stateside and $11M globally, it’s already seen as a miss for the studio.
Cage, famous for going “all in,” gives a physical, howling performance, yet critics say the script lacks the depth or the scares his fans hoped for. Rotten Tomatoes currently sits at 37%; outlets praise the visuals but call the core story “aimless.”
Inside Word
Insiders claim rewrites plagued the production, with a supposed alternate ending focused on Joseph’s temptation cut at Cage’s request—“too over-the-top even for Cage,” an assistant told us. For all its style and iconoclasm, The Carpenter’s Son goes down as a curiosities-only entry for Cage completists.
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