Nicolas Cage (“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”) has been in so many films because he genuinely takes pride in his craft. While not all of his films are life-changing, he enjoys what he does, and that enthusiasm for film shines through in his work. Throughout his long career in cinema, Cage has surrounded himself with a cadre of talented creators that, when brought together, can create impressive feats of moviemaking. Thankfully, “Arcadian” is one of Nick Cage’s better works and demonstrates his skill as an actor and how he elevates the creative work of those around him.
Set in a postapocalyptic Irish countryside, “Arcadian” takes a uniquely vague approach to world-building. In most doomsday films, the calamity that caused the end of the world is rather well documented; zombie outbreaks start from patient zero, and nuclear Armageddon doesn’t happen on its own. However, “Arcadian” doesn’t let you know what caused humanity’s downfall. The film opens mid-disaster, with Cage’s character Paul fleeing from an urban area as alarms go off, leading him to find a pair of infants on his journey. The story takes place 16 years later, and we now follow the found family of Paul and his adopted sons, Joseph (Jaeden Martell, “It”) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins, “Lost in Space”). We watch them for a couple of days and observe them working to fend off an attack from an unknown and inhuman menace.
The film gives hints about what happened to the rest of the world, dropping suggestions that the calamity was connected to some ecological collapse but never elaborating further. While people who prefer extensive world-building may find this approach off-putting, it helps center the characters in the film rather than what caused humans to largely disappear. “Arcadian” is a story of survival after the end times, not about restoring humanity through finding some MacGuffin. The film only shows us a snippet of the world, but the picture it paints is eerie and grim.
This uncertain feeling creates a heightened sense of drama throughout the film that is emphasized by the camera work. The film is composed of long following shots paired with deliberately shaky camera work. This helps maintain a consistent feeling of unease, even when nothing frightening is happening. When Paul realizes that Thomas didn’t make it back before sunset, he rushes forward into the wilderness to retrieve him. As Paul sprints through the dense foliage, the camera trailing behind him and stumbling over the same rocks he ran over helps convey anxiety and dread as we wonder about Thomas’ fate.
The best part about this cinematographic approach is that it complements the horror when the monsters show up. “Arcadian” understands that the less you see, the scarier something is. For most of the runtime, we never get a good look at what our protagonists are up against. We get occasional glimpses of hands reaching out of gorges or grotesque smiles in the dark, but the form of these monsters is largely unknown until the film’s climax. The framing is complemented by the shaky camera work; every encounter is wild and chaotic, and even when the characters manage to kill a monster, the killing blow doesn’t happen on screen. All of these elements combine to keep the monsters scary throughout the film. Even when we get to understand the shape of the monsters as the characters come to understand them better, they find new ways to unsettle the audience. These elements are a genuinely impressive feat of visual effects, and according to the director in the post-screening Q&A at South by Southwest, they were made entirely in Blender, a free 3D modeling software.
While the technical aspects of the film are incredible, the film’s story isn’t nearly as impressive. The family drama among Paul, Joseph and Thomas is serviceable at best. Watching Joseph and Thomas start off having a strained relationship and work slowly to mend it to survive and protect each other is heartwarming but doesn’t offer anything that will stick with viewers. Cage plays an adoptive father excellently but spends most of the film comatose, which squanders his potential in the film. While I praised the ambiguous world-building earlier, having characters with unclear motives and desires doesn’t make for good storytelling. None of this is necessarily a dealbreaker, but it feels as if the movie is a vessel to show off the superb filmmaking.
Despite the narrative being somewhat underwhelming, I think “Arcadian” is well worth watching. It’s one of the most creative thriller films I’ve seen recently, and when all the pieces come together, “Arcadian” becomes riveting. It’s also fun to see Nicolas Cage play Paul being a good dad for 90 minutes.
Daily Arts Writer Nicolas Eisenberg can be reached at niceisen@umich.edu.