At the end of the world, a father and his two sons try to survive in a farmhouse against monstrous beings, and not only.
Flawed in many ways, but decent.
When people hear that Nicolas Cage is in a post-apocalyptic horror film filled with creatures lurking in the darkness, they may expect him to dominate the narrative. He does not. In fact, Cage is not really the lead actor here. The film belongs to the younger cast, Jaeden Martell, Sadie Soverall, and Maxwell Jenkins, and thankfully, they are more than capable of carrying it. All three do a great job navigating a world that has already fallen apart. Their performances give the film its emotional foundation and transform what could have been a generic creature feature into something more personal.
One criticism often levelled at Arcadian is that it feels too static. Much of the story unfolds in limited locations, with the action confined to a relatively small geographical area. That is actually ironic, because the next criticism concerns the shaky camera, which sometimes renders it unwatchable. The third is that there isn’t enough action involving the undead-like creatures themselves.
Regarding the shaky camera, I get it. But horror without drama is hollow. We may remember the scares, but we rarely remember the people experiencing them. Here, the drama occasionally overshadows the horror, but that is what makes the film stand out. Director Benjamin Brewer and writer Michael Nilon are far more interested in family, survival, responsibility, and human relationships than they are in endless monster attacks. Shudder liked the idea and distributed it for us to see.
And speaking of monsters, the film suggests something interesting. The main enemy is not necessarily the dead. It is the living. The creatures are dangerous, certainly, but the tensions, decisions, and actions of human beings prove equally threatening. Horror cinema has explored this idea countless times because it remains true: we are often our own worst enemy. After all, despite everything lurking in the shadows, humanity remains the scariest species on the planet.
The creature sequences themselves are effective enough, even if they are not particularly groundbreaking. What lingers afterwards are the characters and the choices they make. The ending is also befitting of everything that came before it. It neither overreaches nor undermines its themes. So, overall, Arcadian may not reinvent post-apocalyptic horror, but is worth your time.
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