Arcadian: A New Monster Horror Film Starring Nicolas Cage
Arcadian Review
Introduction
Hello movie fans, and welcome to Lost in the Real!
Today, we're going to be talking about Arcadian, a new monster horror film
starring Nicolas Cage. The movie premiered to glowing reviews out of South by
Southwest, but does it live up to the hype? Let's talk about it.
Arcadian Trailer
Plot Overview
Arcadian is about a man and his twin teenage sons who
must fight to survive in a remote farmhouse at the end of the world. The
challenges of growing up are made worse by the terrors awaiting the boys and
their father after the sun has set. While Thomas begins to distance himself
amidst a burgeoning new love, Joseph tinkers and researches ways to try to find
a solution to destroy their nighttime enemies. But when their father becomes
injured, they must use all of their skills he has taught them and come together
to face their foes head-on.
The Appeal of Monster Movies
Everyone loves a good monster movie. I mean, audiences
have come out in droves to watch the new Godzilla X Kong movie. But even more
than the fun smash-them-up flicks like that, I like the monster movies that are
truly horrifying and get under your skin. I'm talking The Thing, The Descent, The
Mist, and A Quiet Place. Films that create unique, terrifying monsters and set
them out to wreak havoc among our protagonists but also have something powerful
to say.
Initial Impressions
After hearing the reviews out of South by Southwest for
Arcadian, I thought that this movie could be in line with the classics that I
just mentioned. Unfortunately, I don't believe that this new Nicolas Cage movie
reaches those heights, as there are a couple of things that really hold it
back. But I also have to say that I did enjoy the movie overall and would be
very interested in a sequel if that ever came to fruition.
Positives
Let's start with the positives. I really like the
progression of this story and that it focused on the two sons rather than
Nicolas Cage's father character. Although I do love myself an unhinged, crazy
Cage, he dials it back quite a lot here and gives a much more introspective
performance. He also lets Jaden Martell from It fame and Maxwell Jenkins, who
play his two sons, really have the spotlight and room to shine. This also has a
lot to do with the fact that his character is sadly incapacitated for a lot of
the movie, but I digress. The character work here, at least with Thomas and
Joseph, is much more nuanced and rich than you would expect from a monster
movie like this. The twins are growing up to be two very different people, and
the conflict that arises because of that really adds a lot of depth to Arcadian.
Creature Effects
I also love the creature effects in this movie,
especially considering what a tight budget this film was operating on. The
success in this department surely has something to do with the fact that
director Benjamin Brewer was one of the lead VFX artists on Everything
Everywhere All at Once. While most films like this, especially nowadays, get
worse as they go along because the creature reveals begin to disappoint, Arcadian
is actually the complete opposite. With the first sight of these horrific
beasts, I'm not going to lie; I was pretty underwhelmed. But as the film
continues, we are gifted with more and more surprises about these monsters, and
they begin to become far more terrifying than when we were first introduced. I
don't want to give anything away, but one of the things they do before they
attack to stun their victims made me gasp out loud every single time.
Negatives
There are definite issues here, as I said before. My
biggest con with Arcadian is that it's just not long enough. At 90 minutes, I
felt like I was just settling into this foreign world and getting to know these
characters. Although I appreciate the movie's ambiguity of how we got into this
apocalyptic situation, as it does add an air of mystery to the whole thing, I
felt as if they could have built up this world a little more. It feels so
isolated and unexplored, and while the movie does take a good amount of time at
the beginning fleshing these three characters out, I still felt like I didn't
know them as much as I should have. An extra 20 to 30 minutes would have made
all the difference in making Arcadian feel more complete because as is, it
feels very much like a part one in a saga that I have a feeling will never be
continued. Hopefully, I'm wrong.
Technical Issues
I also found a lot of issues when it came to the
editing and cinematography of the movie. I know it had a shoestring budget, but
there is so much action that is either too dark, too blurry, or cut in a way
where you don't know what's going on. It's all happening so quickly and in such
a manic way that, while at times it does feel visceral, in others it feels
frustrating because you're clueless as to what just happened. There are many
moments when a character will be in one place, let's call it point A, and then
a second later the movie cuts and they are all of a sudden at point B. Little
things like that kept happening, and they would completely take me out of the
movie.
Comparison to A Quiet Place
Finally, there's a part of me that couldn't shake the
fact that Arcadian felt a little bit like the poor man's A Quiet Place.
Although so much here is well done, the gritty, dire tone of Arcadian, the
landscape, and even the creatures are all very similar to Krasinski's films,
and I have to say Krasinski did it so much better, though he did have a much
larger budget to work with.
Conclusion
While I was irritated at times that Arcadian kept
getting in its own way of being the monster classic it could have been, I still
had a decent time with it. I resonated with both of the lead characters and
their plight and was completely enthralled and terrified by the creature
effects. While I couldn't shake a feeling of disappointment once the credits
rolled, especially after all of the hype coming out of South by Southwest, if
you are a big fan of these types of movies, I wouldn't miss it. If not, though,
I would just stick to A Quiet Place.
Final Thoughts
Thank you so much for watching Lost in the Real. What
are your thoughts on Arcadian? Would you like to see a sequel to the movie?
Sound off in the comment section down below.
Summery
Arcadian, starring Nicolas Cage, is a new monster horror film about a man and his twin sons fighting to survive in a remote farmhouse amidst apocalyptic terrors. While the movie's creature effects are impressive and the focus on the sons' character development adds depth, it falls short in several areas. The film's 90-minute runtime feels too brief to fully explore its world and characters, and the editing and cinematography can be frustratingly unclear. Despite the hype from South by Southwest, Arcadian feels like a lesser version of A Quiet Place. Fans of the genre may enjoy it, but others might prefer sticking to established classics.
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