Arcadian

There's a place for shaky, hand-held camera-work. The opening scene to Saving Private Ryan, for example, is a masterpiece. Here, however, it's merely annoying. For much of the film it takes the viewer out of the narrative, as they struggle to work out what exactly is going on. I might add that the shaky camera-work even makes a pointless return for the closing credits.

Set in the near future, when most of humanity has been wiped out by an unspecified cause; and where the few survivors are obliged to barricade themselves indoors during the hours of darkness, as they are under attack from strange alien creatures, the film centres on Nicholas Cage, who lives with his twin teenage sons (Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins) and survive by foraging and subsistence. Another, larger, family group lives a short distance away. Both families keep livestock, which seem to be immune from nocturnal attack, for no apparent reason.

Cage fades from the narrative for a long stretch, and the film is carried by the two boys plus Sadie Soverall as the daughter of the neighbours. All three turn in solid performances, but are done no favours by the tissue-thin (and hole-ridden) plot, listless dialogue and woeful camera-work. Quite apart from the shakiness, it's often difficult to work out what exactly is going on. Yes, most of the dramatic scenes take place in darkness, but there are ways of making it possible to follow the action.

As an aside, a quick check of the the current ages of the juvenile leads, compared to their on-screen appearance, suggests that this film was shot at least four years ago, and has spent most of the intervening time in post-production hell, as the editors tried to get something coherent out of what they had. I presume they did their best.

The creatures themselves are great when they're unseen or only hinted at. When they make a fuller appearance, however, they're very disappointing.

A watch-and-forget film.

A father and his twin sons have survived the end of the world for fifteen years. As teenagers, the boys have grown into young men and become independent and rambunctious. As they quarrel and go their separate ways one day, their lives are threatened again, and they must fight for survival.

This is a simple end-of-the-world, post-apocalypse survival movie. The story gets straight to the point, giving little to no backstory on the characters or what caused the world's end. There is not a lot of action and a bit of suspense. The runtime of the movie is short. This might not be worth watching in theaters, but it is worth streaming.

Fair warning to all Nicolas Cage fans: contrary to what the poster may lead you to believe, he is NOT the lead. And he does NOT have any crazy-Cage moments. Even so, Arcadian is still a solid horror flick.

When it comes to these types of low-budget isolation movies with tiny casts, they frequently don't have enough substance to warrant the runtime. Not enough happens to make it entertaining. But that's not the case with Arcadian. There are lots of intense and suspenseful moments.

It does a great job with the horror elements and designs. There are a few highly memorable scenes with maximum creepiness. And the whole cast gives good performances.

Not everything works and there are a few flaws. And it doesn't reach the level of recent Cage hits Dream Scenario and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. But I think genre fans will have a good time with this one.

(1 viewing, opening Thursday 4/11/2024)

Adroitly written dialogue, believable characters, nice special effects, creative enemy design and a coherent, concise story that makes sense. They also did away with a lot of detail for background to put us into the moment. Very much the essence of "less is more" in every scene and it works well. Nothing's missing, and there's just the right amount of what we need to know.

But is it a good film? It's work like this that makes me appreciate how complicated and involved filmmaking actually is. Arcadian is arguably a competent piece of work, but none of it will stay with me. I enjoyed everything I watched along with how it was put together, and yet had I not seen it at all that would have been okay too. This would also not be on my list of recommendations unless it was for a fan of the genre, and even then I would tell them to curb their expectations. There's something about the way it was shot that hurts the movie, and whatever it is reduces an otherwise decent film into something that's rather forgettable.

If you're a fan of the medium and appreciate the artistry I would say this is worth your time. If you're looking to passively enjoy something in this genre there are better options out there.

Well, I like to think director Benjamin Brewer (best known for directing music videos and leading the VFX efforts for Everything Everywhere All at Once) had a few neat tricks up his sleeve while conjuring up this creature-feature starring Nic Cage. It has a pretty interesting first act that reminded me of films like A Quiet Place and It Comes At Night, with Cage being the difference-maker.

I'd see anything with Cage in it at this point - heck, I've watched all his bad DTV-movies when was going through a career slump in the 2010s before reinventing himself towards the end of the decade. I just enjoyed seeing him turning into a red-hot act once again. Arcadian evidently descends into a B-horror territory, with deliberate campiness in the presentation of the creatures and a plot that only gives away bits and pieces of its lead characters. The action is layered with some shaky cam, just so that the creatures' appearance isn't entirely given away; that's a creative decision I can applaud. That said, the plot advancement remains utterly predictable.

It's an okayish affair that progressively sees less involvement from Cage, but they establish the brothers' equation fairly well for us to believe in their survival journeys. Jaeden Martell (from It), especially, is a promising talent. A needless love angle is also introduced, only to bring more characters that the monsters can munch on. I'm also curious how the dog in the film survived the whole ordeal, though I'm glad he did :)