Arcadian movie review: A minimalistic creature flick devoid of major thrills

Still from Arcadian

Film: Arcadian
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins, Sadie Soverall, Samantha Coughlan, Joel Gillman
Director: Benjamin Brewer
Rating: 2.5/5
Runtime: 92 min.

A less-then-effective creature feature set on an Irish farm within the set-up of post-apocalyptic horror, this film seems to have been created in a bubble of sorts.

This is an unapologetic genre flick that focuses on how humans respond after civilization collapses, in the face of unexpected, unforseen terror. The premise is simple. A father and his motherless twin sons must survive an alien attack on their remote farmhouse.

The minimalistic design allows for the characters to exist in a space all their own. Paul (Cage) is seen fleeing with his newborn twin sons during a sequence that is meant to depict the end of civilization, It's not exactly a visual scarefest but an aural one dominated by sirens and explosions sounding off in the distance. Cut to fifteen years later, Paul and his teen sons Joseph (Jaeden Martell) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) are surviving, it seems. The daytime is fine but at night when alien creatures start hunting its time for them to board-up their windows and doors and stay hidden in the dark. One evening, Thomas fails to return home from the nearby Rose Farm, and Paul is in panic. He asks Joseph to stay boarded-up in the house while he sets out to search for his missing son. That's when we as an audience become privy to what happens in the night.

Director Benjamin Brewer and writer Michael Nilon set up a genre sequence that is quite a scare. While Joseph is sleeping we see something creeping between an open panel in a door …a reveal that sets up some steady tension which eventually peters out for want of elaboration.

Brewer manages to cover-up budgetary constraints with quick shots of the creatures - enough to give us brief terrifying glimpses. The design is creepy enough and when the creature is ready to go on a rampage we see snapping teeth and stretchable arms spilling blood and fluid.

Don't look for character development or world building here. Neither do we get to know the reasons why the world fell apart. There are lots of details missing from Arcadian. Brewer and screenwriter Mike Nilon may have created an effective enough monster but the human characters being affected by them don't invoke any empathy. The minimalist nature of this telling is also it's weakest link.

This post-apocalyptic drama is merely a functional genre flick with a few shocking moments and nothing else to offer.