Arcadian (2024)
Another Post-apocalyptic Alien Movie
Arcadian is Nicolas Cage’s latest foray into horror. Set a decade and a half after an alien invasion and pandemic, the film is about a father and two teenage sons who are fighting to survive in a devastated post-apocalyptic landscape.
Cage plays Paul, a gruff dad who teaches his sons survival skills in a world that is still plagued by nocturnal extraterrestrial monsters. His twin sons are Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) and Joseph (Jaeden Martell). Joseph is a daredevil, while Thomas has more of a cerebral approach. The boys were babies when society collapsed, so the post-apocalyptic world is the only society that they’ve ever known. The brothers often clash with each other, forcing Paul to play referee.
Thomas strikes up a romance with Charlotte (Sadie Soverall), a feisty brunette who lives with her family nearby. After his dad is injured, Thomas convinces Charlotte to let him borrow some medicine, against her parents’ wishes. Paul then begins a harrowing journey back home, but encounters serious trouble along the way. Eventually Paul, his sons, and Charlotte become embroiled in a deadly battle.
Director Benjamin Brewer uses a “shaky cam” filming style throughout the movie. This technique has become increasingly common in horror and sci-fi movies. It adds a touch of grittiness, even in a conventionally filmed movie like this. But the novelty of this approach has long since worn off.
Brewer gets genuine performances from all four leads. There isn’t a whole lot of character development in this 90-minute movie, but the characters behave like real people probably would, if faced with this type of situation.
The creature design is fun. Arcadia‘s extraterrestrial monsters are true nightmare material. They look like giant insects, with gangly limbs, long heads, and gleaming razor-sharp teeth. The creatures are physically similar to the xenomorphs from the Alien franchise (although there is no connection between this film and that series). They are intelligent enough to work together to hunt their prey, and they have the mole-like ability to dig underground passageways.
Nicolas Cage – Horror Icon?
Many people probably don’t think of Nicolas Cage as a horror actor. He has generally been associated with big budget summer action popcorn movies, like Con Air, National Treasure, and The Rock.
But Cage has racked up an impressive list of genre credits over the past fifteen years. He’s starred in offbeat, unique projects like Mandy and Color Out of Space, and has also taken roles in sillier fare like Renfield and Willy Wonderland. He has a major role in the recent surprise smash hit, Longlegs. Many of his horror flicks have won widespread critical acclaim.
Cage is a prolific actor who has always been willing to take on a wide variety of roles. I’m not sure what attracted him to Arcadia. Paul is a relatively generic character. This role could have been played by virtually any seasoned middle-aged actor. The movie doesn’t take advantage of the unique charisma that Cage brings to his best performances.
Rating
Arcadia is a solid, well made effort, with good performances from all the main actors. But it isn’t unique enough to truly elevate itself above the vast array of similar movies.
Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece) – 6.5
