Arcadian

By Ulkar Alakbarova on June 21, 2024

In a near future, normal life on Earth has been decimated. Paul and his two sons, Thomas and Joseph, have been living a half-life – tranquility by day and torment by night. Every night, after the sun sets, they face the unrelenting attacks of a mysterious and violent evil. One day, when Thomas doesn't return home before sundown, Paul must leave the safety of their fortified farm to find him. A nightmarish battle ensues that forces the family to execute a desperate plan to survive.

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

Paul: Nicolas Cage
Joseph: Jaeden Martell
Thomas: Maxwell Jenkins
Charlotte: Sadie Soverall
Mrs. Rose: Samantha Coughlan
Hobson: Joel Gillman
Mr. Rose: Joe Dixon
Militant Farmer (uncredited): Daire McMahon

Film Crew:

Producer: Michael Nilon
Director: Benjamin Brewer
Production Design: Shane McEnroe
Executive Producer: Slava Vladimirov
Executive Producer: Macdara Kelleher
Executive Producer: Jared Underwood
Producer: David M. Wulf
Producer: Braxton Pope
Producer: Nicolas Cage
Producer: Arianne Fraser
Producer: Delphine Perrier
Director of Photography: Frank Mobilio
Editor: Kristi Shimek
Original Music Composer: Kristin Gundred
Original Music Composer: Josh Martin

Movie Reviews:

MovieGuys: Its nice to see Nicolas Cage in a film deserving of his talents.
Arcadian is not an exceptional horror thriller but what it does do, is done competently enough to be deserving of praise. It has a serviceable story, that reminds me a little of "A Quiet Place" from 2018. The core premise is not quite the same but the monster effects are similar, as is the rural setting.
The tension is ratcheted up nicely as the story progresses. As is always the case with what is essentially a survivalist horror, we know the creatures are going to get in but what happens next is, of course, the interesting part. Along the way we get to know the key characters, including Cages father figure. His effective absence part way through film and his return near the end, is a little disappointing but given this film has a coming of age component, its understandable.
Acting is decent throughout and you can certainly relate to the plight of Cages little ad-hoc family. The creature effects work well enough too but somehow, they are just not all that creepy or especially menacing. This tends to rob the film of a real post apocalyptic horror vibe. I think revealing exactly what they are, early on, was a mistake too that took away any reveal/jump scare potential, from the film.
All that said, Arcadian is in most respects a worthwhile watch that you should consider adding to your horror/thriller inventory. Definitely worth a look.