The Carpenter's Son

The Carpenter's Son is the kind of film that is divisive from the outset. Its very premise, revisiting the childhood of Jesus Christ through a dark and terrifying lens, is enough to arouse curiosity in some and resistance in others. Directed and written by Lotfy Nathan, the feature film is based on the Gospel of Thomas, an apocryphal text from the second century that presents little-known episodes from the early years of Christ's life. The result is a drama with hints of horror, shrouded in faith, fear, and guilt, which attempts to balance the sacred and the profane, but does not always strike the right tone.Ultimately, The Carpenter's Son is an ambitious but uneven film. It is courageous for revisiting a figure as emblematic as Jesus from a horror perspective, something few filmmakers would dare to do. At the same time, it is a feature film that seems to retreat whenever it is about to go further. The duality between faith and fear is present, but it is never explored with all the force it could have.There is much of value here: Noah Jupe's inspired performance, the engaging visuals, and Lotfy Nathan's effort to treat a sensitive subject with respect and inventiveness. But there is also an imbalance that prevents the film from reaching its full potential. The Carpenter's Son is a valid attempt to unite the sacred with the dark, an interesting experiment that, although it doesn't hold up until the end, leaves the impression that Nathan is a name to be followed in future projects.Ultimately, the film is about fear, faith, and paternal love. It speaks to the weight of a destiny no one asked for and the silence that accompanies the divine. The Carpenter's Son is neither the religious film nor the horror film one might expect; it is something in between, a strange and imperfect hybrid, but one that deserves to be seen for its boldness in attempting something new with such an ancient story.

"The Carpenter’s Son" is a Biblical horror movie with interesting ideas but they just don’t seem interesting because the perspective is ****, which nullifies the film’s ability to trouble our hearts.