Nicolas Cage’s new biblical horror film has outraged some fans who have labelled it ‘blasphemous’ and ‘disgusting’.
The Carpenter’s Son stars Cage as the Carpenter (aka Joseph), FKA twigs as Mother (aka Mary) and Noah Jupe as the Boy (aka Jesus).
But offence has been taken at writer-director Lofty Nathan basing his upcoming horror movie on a Gnostic Christian text, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which covers Jesus’s childhood.
Debuting its trailer on Wednesday, The Carpenter’s Son sees a remote village in Roman-era Egypt explode into spiritual warfare when a carpenter, his wife and their son Jesus are targeted by supernatural forces after he uses his mysterious abilities.
Cage begins the trailer with a pious narration, saying, ‘Let my faith endure. Faith, my always strength to bear against the devil itself,’ before clouds darken ominously.
The Boy is seen resurrecting a cricket in his palm as the Carpenter, against whom he has started rebelling, admits: ‘He bears a power he cannot understand, a power I cannot contain.’
A body under a shroud jerks back to life, while another person fits on the floor with blood-coloured sludge on their mouth and a pit of bodies is briefly glimpsed.
‘Is he from your angels or from demons?’ asks Cage’s Carpenter, who later is also shown screaming, with his hands over his face: ‘My faith has been shattered!’
Meanwhile the Boy is shown being tempted by a mysterious girl with blood on her face (Isla Johnston), who asks: ‘Do you want to know a secret? I know one that can free you.’
She later announces: ‘I am the accuser of light, I am the adversary, and why am I here?’
When the Boy responds, ‘To torment me?’, she is seen whispering into his ear: ‘Yes.’
A previous teaser saw Cage’s Carpenter warning Jupe’s Boy that Satan looks ‘like people amongst us’ while a snake is shown emerging from a man’s mouth who had also writhed intimidatingly in earlier clips as Cage was seen screaming.
But from this first official look – and even since its initial announcement – some have slammed the film on social media.
Despite the fact it’s not out yet in cinemas, The Carpenter’s Son has been review bombed on Google, where it currently holds a 1.3 star rating out of five.
‘A disgusting attempt to defame and mock the Christian faith,’ wrote David Badin by a one-star review, while another Google user under the alias ‘Fnaf Fnaf’ added: ‘This is blasphemy. When I first saw this trailer I thought it’s going to be a normal Christian movie but when I rewatched the trailer I realised that this movie makes me want to barf.’
‘I hate the fact that they made a horror movie about Jesus, it’s not pertinent, and I also think that it could be taken as a very offensive movie for people who believe in him,’ shared Violeta Miranda, while Maka Makudu seethed: ‘Disgusting, blasphemous, satanic portrayal of Jesus, Jesus is not the Devil, he isn’t evil, he doesn’t hurt his people, he would never do any of these things.’
‘This is extremely offensive to Christianity, you can’t be twisting people’s religions for entertainment. You wouldn’t make a movie like this about any other religion and if there was one it would get cancelled right awa,’ insisted Lydia Ewing.
In the comments section under the trailer on YouTube, @mattyyyvalencia wrote: ‘That didn’t sit right with my soul, gave me chills (which is your body telling you danger, so if you felt it, listen to your heart)… reading through the comment section: am I the only voice of reason here?’
But other fans launched into full-throated defences of the as-yet unreleased horror film.
‘Genuinely feel like some of y’all just did NOT watch the trailer. I’m a believer too, but what about this is supposed to be blasphemous?’ asked @DEAD_REST. ‘Maybe I’m missing something but like, just because something is Christianity + horror doesn’t mean Jesus is automatically the “bad guy” or portrayed in some horrible way.
‘And, even so, are we not called to ALSO be fearful of God? From what I can gather from the trailer, it’ll likely be a few stories strung together (I.E. I’m assuming the girl was meant to be Satan from temptation in the desert?) until the crucifixion and resurrection. The horror is happening around Jesus.’
‘As a Christian this does not offend me , if anything [it] brings to light a question – how does a human come to terms with being so much more than they think. Must be truly terrifying,’ added another fan while @DavidGoku25 pointed out: ‘Wow, people were saying it was demonic, saying Jesus was gonna be evil, and turns out it shows Jesus and his family facing evil.’
‘I was one of the guys who thought this movie was going to be some demonic or evil adaptation [of] the gospel. This trailer cleared things up and I’m actually looking forward to seeing this!’ commented @BlessdBuckshotProd
Others also admitted they were there to lap up the drama as @loxzone1 commented: ‘This is guna tick sooooo many people off, and I’m here for it.’
‘Religious horror is one of the best kinds. This made me feel sick to my stomach and I’m here for it.’ said @artcoreeden, while @TommytheGeneralist observed: ‘It’s not a Nicholas Cage movie without the “I’m going insane!” episode.’
The Carpenter’s Son is set to be released in US cinemas on November 14. A UK release date is yet to be confirmed.