Hitting theaters on April 12, 2024 through RLJE Films, Arcadian opens as Paul (Nicolas Cage: Moonstruck 1987, Face/Off 1997) scurries through a war torn city. Who or what the city is at war with is unknown… but it soon becomes clear that life as we know it is at an end.
Directed by Benjamin Brewer (The Trust 2016, Lewis Black: Tragically, I Need You 2023) from a screenplay by Michael Nilon (Braven 2018), Arcadian takes place in the near future in a post-apocalyptic world where most of human life has been decimated. Amongst the few surviving humans are Paul and his two teenage sons, Joseph (Jaeden Martell: It 2017, Knives Out 2019) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping 2016, Joe Bell 2020), who live in a fortified farmhouse deep in the countryside. Every evening, the family makes sure to be inside before sunset to prepare the house for the relentless attacks that happen every night. When Thomas does not return one evening, Paul is forced to leave the safety of the house, leaving Joseph alone, to go and find him.
There is much in Arcadian that is left unexplained. What momentous events led to the apocalypse? What exactly happened to the rest of humanity? Where did the monsters came from for a start? Later there is a subplot where a character needs medicine but what medicine they need and where other people got it from is not very clear. There are also character dynamics that are never fully explored or explained. For example, teenage brothers Joseph and Thomas have an extremely fractious relationship. Do they hate each other purely because they are teenagers and expected to be moody and find everyone else annoying? Is it an effect of cabin fever? The audience never finds out.
In this way, the film relies heavily on the audience’s goodwill. The audience is expected to fill in a lot of blanks and accept a lot on blind faith. With that in mind, the world building and characterization in Arcadian could be stronger. However, there is a rather large caveat to the above, almost to the point where any flaws become negligible. In a film of this ilk where humanity is under threat from terrifying monsters, it is salient that the monsters in question are effective – not only in the threat that they pose but also that they look the part. With that in mind, Arcadian has one of the most effective creature designs in any recent film of this nature – in fact it arguably has one of the best creature designs in this genre.
Furthermore, the apocalyptic creatures in Arcadian are nightmare fuel and their nightmarishness is enhanced by how the camera never really focuses on them. It is predominantly quick glances, something creeping in the corner or a sudden frenzy of movement. The audience can never be quite sure of what they have seen and that evokes a real sense of fear and foreboding.
In the end, Arcadian may not be the strongest film in the post-apocalyptic genre in terms of its story, however it more than makes up for this with fantastic creature design. These monsters will stay burned into the audience’s mind for a long time after the credits roll. That is why Cryptic Rock gives it 4 out of 5 stars.
){kind=link}
No comment