ARCADIAN (2024) - Movie Review

Director: Benjamin Brewer
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins, Sadie Soverall, Samanta Coughlan, Joe Dixon
Genre: Horror, Action, Drama, Sci-fi
Writer: Mile Nilon
Runtime: 92 min
Rated: Rated R for bloody images
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

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.

Review:

To be perfectly honest, I started this movie convinced from watching the trailer that it was going to be just an imitation of "A Quiet Place". All the elements were there. A post-apocalyptic landscape, an isolated homestead, a family as the protagonists, and deadly alien creatures. I was surprised to discover that while, yes, there are some similarities, as a whole, the movie is better than expected.

All we learn about the apocalyptic event is that humanity has been ravaged by a pandemic and civilization has collapsed. The few who managed to escape the insanity have taken refuge in the countryside where they struggle to survive. But survival is no longer just a matter of food or medicine, because during the night fiendish monsters come out and hunt them down. Was the pandemic caused by the creatures ? Are the monsters aliens ? Did they arrive before or after the virus outbreak ? Such questions remain unanswered.

I like a little ambiguity in my horror stories. Leaving more to the imagination makes the horror even scarier, but I took a bit of issue with how vague the monsters' origins are in this movie. I think just a little backstory would have helped shape a more believable post-apocalyptic world. Regardless, the creature design is spectacularly grotesque and quite unlike anything I've ever seen in any movie. When they need to move around quickly, they group together to form a giant creepy organic wheel of some sort that reminded me of the critter ball in "Critters 2". They're like something out of a twisted fairy tale or Tim Burton's older movies. Director Benjamin Brewer, who previously did VFX work on "Everything Everywhere All at Once", defies budget constraints and manages to create some amazing shots that showcase these creatures in all their terrifiyng glory, and the CGI is pretty impressive, all things considered.

On the other hand, the human characters are a letdown. The brothers played by Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins, have opposing personalities and spend much of the movie at odds with each other. Meanwhile, their father (Nicolas Cage) is barely in the movie as the brothers are the story's real protagonists. Unfortunately, they're not very compelling leads. Cage is great in the little screen time he has, but I wish he was in the movie more. A dull romantic subplot involving a girl from another group of survivors, played by Sadie Soverall, is interwoven in the narrative and bogs down the film's first half. I will admit, however, that Soverall's character actually turns out to be a badass addition by the time the third act showdown kicks in.

The film's action-packed finale makes up for many of the film's shortcomings with full-on monster mayhem and solid payoffs. It's a shame that one of the film's big twists regarding the monster attacks is given away in the trailer, because it's a great set up for the climactic last stand. The action is well shot and edited, the sound design and visual effects surprisingly good, and there's plenty of violence to go around. No complaints here.

"Arcadian" is a mix of horror fable and B-style creature feature. The narrative elements don't quite come together as well as they could have, with barebones story and character development, and it's certainly derivative of other popular genre films. However, it offers plenty of creepy atmosphere and visuals, and some surprisingly potent thrills. I'm not sure this is cult classic material, but it's definitely worth a watch.

SCORE: 6.5/10