The Carpenter's Son

This movie was painful to watch. I was somewhat excited after the trailer, but none of it was what I expected. It was slow, Jesus was wild, and it just felt, wrong, for a lack of a better explanation. I could have skipped this and felt okay. I tried my hardest not to fall asleep. Ill be okay to never see this one again.

Watched at AMC on 11-19-2025.

I am not a religious person, so I have the benefit to see this movie as what it is: an idea of trying to turn Jesus' teenage years into a often subtle and over all twisted horror film. Plus some Cage moments and decent acting from Twigs, Jupe and Johnston turn this into a very creepy one to watch.

I liked it more than I anticipated. Don't be fooled by the critics. This is not a jump scare horror flick, more of gory excorcist style.

This movie supposedly draws upon some of the gnostic and apocryphal gospels (many of which were fraudulent texts written in the second millennium AD) as inspiration. Knowing some of those texts, I had a hard time placing which books it specifically drew its inspiration from because it didn't really adhere to any of their themes or anecdotes, as far as I'm aware. It was rather boring and felt like it lacked a clear direction. Maybe I'm stupid (I'd like to think I'm not), but the film felt disjointed and confused on which story it wanted to tell. It was not a clever, alternative narrative on the nature of good and evil and/or the hidden history of Christianity, as had been presented to me. Some decent acting performances are the only reason I didn't give it a 1.

Good thing I have regal subscription my ticket was only 53 cents and I barely liked it. This was mostly a middle movie between Now you see me now you don't and I saw Keeper right after this that was excellent; Carpenters Son was so bad! I even coughed a bunch during this that was uncomfortable I have felt kinda sick still wanted to go to the movies, only decent aspect in this was some cool horror moments.

The Carpenter's Son is the kind of film that is divisive from the outset. Its very premise-revisiting the childhood of Jesus Christ through a dark and terrifying lens-is enough to arouse curiosity in some and resistance in others. Directed and written by Lotfy Nathan, the feature film is based on the Gospel of Thomas, an apocryphal text from the second century that presents little-known episodes from the early years of Christ's life. The result is a drama with hints of horror, shrouded in faith, fear, and guilt, which attempts to balance the sacred and the profane, but does not always strike the right tone.

Ultimately, The Carpenter's Son is an ambitious but uneven film. It is courageous for revisiting a figure as emblematic as Jesus from a horror perspective, something few filmmakers would dare to do. At the same time, it is a feature film that seems to retreat whenever it is about to go further. The duality between faith and fear is present, but it is never explored with all the force it could have.

There is much of value here: Noah Jupe's inspired performance, the engaging visuals, and Lotfy Nathan's effort to treat a sensitive subject with respect and inventiveness. But there is also an imbalance that prevents the film from reaching its full potential. The Carpenter's Son is a valid attempt to unite the sacred with the dark, an interesting experiment that, although it doesn't hold up until the end, leaves the impression that Nathan is a name to be followed in future projects.

Ultimately, the film is about fear, faith, and paternal love. It speaks to the weight of a destiny no one asked for and the silence that accompanies the divine. Shadows in the Desert is neither the religious film nor the horror film one might expect; it is something in between, a strange and imperfect hybrid, but one that deserves to be seen for its boldness in attempting something new with such an ancient story.