Arcadian
Directed by Benjamin Brewer
Written by Michael Nilon
Starring Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, and Maxwell Jenkins
Rated R
Runtime: 1 hour, 32 minutes
In theaters April 12

by Megan Robinson, Staff Writer

Nothing can save a movie from bad lighting. Many have attempted to love a movie when it is practically unwatchable, but when the visual medium becomes obscured so much, without strong intentions, nothing can be enjoyed. Couple it with lackluster characters, vague ideas, and a world too insular to grab onto, and what do you really have? But more importantly, do you say anything at all? Arcadian wants to paint a portrait of a family in crisis, both within their familial unit as the two teen sons Joseph (Jaeden Martell) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) long for independence and outside their isolated homelife as insect-like creatures that, possibly, invaded the Earth wait just outside their doorstep at night. Unfortunately, the film struggles to give this portrait depth, instead leaving in its wake a bland post-apocalypse that lacks the weight it needs to succeed. 

Arcadian stars Nicolas Cage as Paul, a man worn-down by an invasion of otherworldly creatures who hunt humans at night. Just as the invasion began, Paul came across two babies abandoned to the world who, fifteen years later, are now at odds with one another. Joseph finds himself more concerned with studying these creatures, looking for what could be the long-term solution to saving society; Thomas, meanwhile, finds himself visiting the Rose farm and becoming enamored with the family’s daughter Charlotte (Sadie Soverall). The two brothers split up after a heated argument, but when Thomas fails to return home, Paul searches for him and ends up attacked by the creatures. With Paul close to death, Joseph and Thomas need to find medicine and learn to survive on their own.

The core of Arcadian’s issues lies in Michael Nilon’s script. Though the script has a clear structure with good rising stakes, it’s the characters that truly falter. Joseph and Thomas are meant to be understood as taking alternate paths in life in their teenage years, both longing to make a difference in entirely different ways. Their personalities, however, do nothing to make these distinct paths and wants understandable; likewise, Martell and Jenkins don’t play either character with a distinct flavor to the point it becomes hard to tell them apart. 

Paul is a waste of Cage’s casting, not because of his screen time but because, like Paul’s sons, he has a very thin personality that can only be described as a “protector.” Cage is an expressive performer that can always breathe life into any character, heroic or villainous, kind or complicated, but he has nothing to grasp onto with Paul. It can be difficult to care about the present danger facing these characters when they’re neither likable nor unlikable — it’s almost as if Arcadian was a TV pilot, with the idea that all these characters would be fleshed out at a later date.

Interesting shots and camera movements end up obscured, most of the time, by poor lighting. Joseph driving his makeshift car with Paul and Thomas is shot from a fascinating angle: this simulacrum of a car shot from an atypical viewpoint, reflecting their own strange, new movement through the world. Other times, the camera lingers, drawing out the danger of a situation, but there’s nothing to actually see. A concurrent scene with Joseph in the house guarding it from the mysterious creatures and Paul protecting Thomas during the night, the two both stuck in a gap outside their home, should be tense and frightening, the creatures coming for everyone in the family with calculated bloodthirst. Instead, Paul and Thomas are barely visible, stuck completely in darkness, with only Joseph’s side of this sequence maintaining the ability to frighten as the creature inches towards him by lantern light. 

Arcadian tells and shows very little, in the end. Rather than reflecting this intentionally confusing apocalypse in the small family of father and sons, it feels instead insular and lacking in pathos. Emotional beats typical to these kinds of stories are hit without any of the emotion permeating off the screen. Joseph and Thomas have known each other for their entire lives, yet feel like strangers. Paul makes sacrifices again and again for his children, but he never feels like a true father to them, his protection born out of duty rather than compassion. Even the creature design in the film conveys very little to the audience, this vague amalgamation of monsters and aliens over the years compounded to make something aggressive but wholly uninteresting. Arcadian commits one of the worst crimes a movie can: it doesn’t make me feel anything.