I don’t know that this classifies as horror. But I also don’t know that I would not call it horror. If I was talking to someone that isn’t into horror, I would discuss this and simply avoid referring to it as horror. If I was talking to someone who is into horror… still not sure I would call it horror.

Because this is a religious movie. The timing on me stumbling across this caught me literally the same night as a conversation I randomly had talking about the Biblical Apocrypha. New Testament to be precise. There are a number of books that are “not” part of the Bible. Why? Because whoever chose the contents decided they weren’t to be used. The Apocrypha is basically the equivalent of deleted scenes from a movie.

Ok, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way. I’m an Atheist, so I don’t follow the whole “written by God” aspect of the Bible. The fact that there are books that weren’t included seems to make the table of contents massively questionable.

But this is about a movie, not a religious perspective.

Nicolas Cage plays the titular Carpenter, Joseph. FKA Twigs plays the Mother, Mary. Noah Jupe plays the Boy, the Carpenter’s son, Jesus. And notable Isla Johnston plays the Stranger, Satan.

For some reason, they opted to not call Jesus, Joseph, or Mary by those names. But there is no doubt this is a story of how Joseph and Mary tried to live a life and protect their son.

And that is pretty much the crux of the movie. Just living their life. Hiding and moving when needs must. Not interacting with people. But Joseph is a very harsh father in this. Lording over Jesus and demanding that he do as told at all times. It was a different time, right. The idea that someone was seeking them and wanting to destroy Jesus is the implication about why they live the way they do. But Joseph seems to have an issue with knowing that he isn’t the dad. So being harsh on the son seems to come from that space. Raising a son that isn’t his. This does paint Joseph in a rather harsh light, and Mary in a very submissive light. Jesus is curious and wanting to explore. To talk to people and learn and understand. 

Unfortunately the girl that pops up and intrigues him happens to be Satan.

As a movie, I don’t think this offers a ton. It is almost feels like it is a prologue to the Mel Gibson movie Last Temptation of Christ. It was very interesting to watch. I don’t feel like it needs a review treatment per se. This is a movie worth watching. I almost can’t quite say why. As someone that doesn’t follow Jesus via one of the many religions that claim him, this still appealed to me. 

While this is a review, I don’t feel like it deserves a star rating. It is neither good nor bad. It is interesting. On the interesting rating scale, I am giving this 42 Feathers. Good luck figuring out the scale or scope of what that means. This is the first (and likely last) thing that will be rated on the Feather scale.