I have been anticipating the ’Arcadian (2024)’ movie for a long time since I watched the trailer a couple of months back. When I saw the trailer, It promised a terrifying exploration of survival, but that was not the case.
Note: If you are a fan of Nicholas Cage like me, you will be disappointed because the movie poster insinuates that he is the lead character, but he is not. I guess that was a marketing strategy carried out by the production team.
The last movie of Nicholas Cage that I saw was ’Renfield (2023)’ and I was absolutely impressed with the film and the performance of Cage. So it made sense to me that ’Arcadian’ would also be worth watching. I was highly disappointed and sad.
’Arcadian (2024)’ is a post-apocalyptic action horror movie that the screenplay was written by Michael Nilon and it was directed by Ben Brewer. It is a movie that majorly features a few actors like Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins, Sadie Soverall, Samantha Coughlan, and Joe Dixon.
The opening scene of this movie depicts an end of the world scenario. Paul (Cage) was seen fleeing a chaotic city only for him to get to his shelter and cradle his babies (twins) in order to calm them down from crying more. Fast forward to fifteen years later, Paul and his boys were now living in a remote farmhouse. In this farmhouse, they are safe during the day, but at night live with fear and fight to survive until the next dawn from .
However, something unexpected happened when one of Paul's boys did return home for the night. Paul was worried that something had happened to his son. So he left his other son in charge of the remote farmhouse and went out to look for his other son who didn't return. Did the monster they fear at night get his son? Did Paul find his son?
This movie would have been an upgrade version of the post-apocalyptic film ’Quiet Place’, but it lacked so many things which in the end made this movie a messy work. I don't know what the producing team and the director were thinking when they produced this movie. No proper home and research was done, the directorial style was terrible and frustrating, the plot was underdeveloped, the characters fell flat, the themes that were supposed to explore were obviously missing from the movie and finally there was no background story.
Firstly I will start by appreciating Nicholas Cage for making this movie watchable. If not for him, this movie would not be watchable at all. Nicolas Cage delivered an excellent subdued performance as Paul. He was a compelling presence throughout the movie. His presence and performance made the film a little entertaining and watchable. He was the spotlight for me and from the look of things he carried other actors along.
The actors who acted as Paul's sons were convincing, but their performance was not really grounded, they didn't have any chemistry as brothers and it felt like they were forced to act their roles. Other actors, their characters are not fully fleshed out, and have no backstory to them.
The storyline is something we all have watched so many times. There is nothing new, or unique about the plot. I say, it was generic, easy and straightforward. It is very predictable. You could tell and know what happens next and how the movie will end. Also, some of the scenes in this movie didn't make any sense at all. The world building was weak. How did the creatures come to be? How did it all start?
The cinematography was average, the scene arrangements were okay but still, it didn't make the movie unique. The CGI of the creatures was excellent. I will give them that. One thing that made this movie so frustrating was the camera work. It was messy and untidy. There was constant shakiness of the camerawork that made the movie physically challenging to watch unless you are not prone to motion sickness. All the scenes were just blurry and distracting.
Rating this movie, I will give it 5 out of 10 stars. Nicholas Cage made me watch this movie till the end. In the end, this movie is a forgettable one that won't be remembered anymore. I wish Cage’s talent was not wasted here. If you are into post-apocalyptic movies, you can give this movie a try. It might be a good experience for you, but this is just my opinion and experience about this movie.
All images above are from the movie screenshots
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