‘Arcadian’: SXSW Review

Dir: Ben Brewer. US/Eire. 2024. 92mins

A post-apocalyptic horror fable, Arcadian is a creature function composed of low-cost thrills and silent chills. Nicolas Cage performs mild obligation as a father of two teenage boys who’ve spent their total lives fearing the ruthless monsters that come out at night time. It’s a thinly-drawn movie that cares extra concerning the leisure worth of its indelibly designed creatures than its human characters. Such a myopic focus would usually be a foul signal however right here, with terrifying specters able to scaring the daylights out of audiences, you may’t assist however be swept up by the skin-crawling imaginative and prescient projected by the movie.

The design of the monsters is practically definitely worth the worth of admission alone

After premiering at SXSW, Arcadian (formally referred to as Sand And Stones) will launch within the US by means of RJLE on April 12 earlier than heading to Shudder. It has an uncompromising rough-around-the-edges aesthetic that mixes fairy-tale whimsy with brutal, gory deaths to satiate style followers. One would additionally count on the presence of a style veteran like Cage to present it a powerful probability at being a B-picture with cult film aspirations. 

We first see Paul (Cage) frantically operating by means of a struggle torn metropolis, the place bullets and bombs are exploding. That is the top of the world. The place he’s operating to is the countryside – the movie shot in and round Dublin – the place his two toddler sons look ahead to his return. Flash ahead 15 years, and the adventurous Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) and analytical Joseph (Jaedan Martell) now dwell on a farm with Paul. Regardless of the country dreamland, the trio dwell in concern. Each night time they actually batten down the hatches to guard in opposition to the marauding monsters who’ve disrupted civilisation and are on the prowl for some savoury prey.

Even with an ongoing apocalypse, nevertheless, boys might be boys. Thomas usually ditches his family chores to go to the neighbouring Rose Farm, owned by a rich household so loaded they’ve employed weapons to maintain these creatures at bay. It doesn’t matter what excuse Thomas provides to his father, he isn’t there to do odd jobs for the clan: he has a crush on their daughter Charlotte (Sadie Soverall). 

Mike Nilon’s skinny script is mild on element — the origin of those monsters stays an enigma, solely hinted at by a sport performed by Thomas and Charlotte during which they should make up pithy tales about how the world ended. One model has it {that a} virus worn out humanity and one other model theorises that people mutated into these monsters. And the characters and the obstacles they face are largely cliches. A sibling rivalry results in a serious dust-up between brothers; the wealthy Rose household isn’t as giving as you’d count on, teasing an underdeveloped commentary on the haves and have-nots; younger love survives all comers.

But the screenplay is aware of what beats to hit. Ultimately the precarious battle for survival involves a head when Thomas, hurrying again dwelling after visiting Charlotte, slips and falls right into a cavern. It’s as much as Paul to retrieve his son at night time; a rescue mission that debilitates the daddy, surprisingly placing Cage out of fee for a lot of the film. 

Brewer additionally is aware of that his viewers are most within the man-eating creatures, and the design of those monsters is practically definitely worth the worth of admission alone. Their lengthy chompers and arachnoid climbing recall A Quiet Place. Severe hair-raising scenes occur each time these predators sneak up, their lengthy arms unfurling like branches from a tree towards their unsuspecting victims. Even higher is how they’ll mix as one, forming a large wheel of beasts tumbling towards their kill. Any scenes involving Thomas and Joseph fending them off is a guttural deal with of spewed brains and harsh screeches.

A understanding Soverall steals practically each scene, and would run off with the entire film if her character weren’t so one-dimensional. Earlier than the top, Cage additionally returns for a giant, eye-catching tango with a number of brutes. And whereas Arcadian is much from being a brand new fashionable horror masterpiece, it makes for a satisfying B-movie romp.