Arcadian 4K 2024 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

The earth has experienced some terrible event, escaping from which a man found two infants. 15 years later, in a secluded forest house, he raises them as his own sons. Joseph grows up smart and observant, the boy likes to figure things out, and Thomas goes to the neighboring farm where his romantic interest lives at every opportunity. When the sun goes down, the whole family must lock themselves in the house to avoid falling prey to creepy creatures prowling in the darkness. One day Thomas fails to return home in time for the evening, and his father sets out to find him.

Review 4K Movie

Benjamin (if he's from Quebec - Benjamin) Brewer's 'Arcadian' is a Canadian-American-Irish indie horror.

While one wants to rate the film positively overall, it's hard not to admit that it has the standard set of problems for unremarkable indie horror films.

The picture was made to realize a number of author's ideas. But in doing so, the creators, excuse me, laid on everything else.

'Arcadian' tells about a world where most of the people have died, and the remaining people are attacked by ferocious mysterious creatures in the dark hours of the night. The plot revolves around a family: father Paul (Cage) and two sons. The characters survive somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

It's okay that the details of the disaster are not revealed to us, it's not that important in an indie movie. The point is that the creators can forget their own key concepts on flat ground. Cage's character says (great lyrics!): “And I believe that the worst is over, that the air and water are getting cleaner and that more people have survived than we thought. And some of those people - let's call them heroes - will come from behind the hills and save us. That's what I believe.” And, ten minutes after the viewer learns how much Paul wants as many survivors as possible, it turns out: Paul is unwilling to interact in any way (barring bartering?!) with the inhabitants of the neighboring ranch. Why is that so?

Another example of the creators' disinterest. At one point (this is the beginning of the movie, not a spoiler) one of the sons draws the attention of the relatives, the monsters, coming at night, break in the barricaded door suspiciously meaningful. There are always three strikes: a trial, a full-blown one, and a third out of frustration. Wow, are we watching the first 'Horrible' where everything is explained? But no. This scene will turn out to be the only one in the picture where they try to understand the 'enemy' in any way.

There's the clumsy 'man to man is a wolf' line. Here the same bland love line.

I'd like to say something to the cameraman. A certain Frank Mobilio. Extremely illiterate work with a dynamic camera. Not every viewer will dare to continue watching.

What is the reason for the shaky (very strong!) picture in an ordinary dinner conversation, in a scene where the hero in the frame is just smoking, working on a workbench...?

But there are a number of cool ideas in 'Arcadian', which separately can make you look at the movie as an art-horror.

Purely plot and screenplay decisions. For example, the 'killer trap' scene and what precedes it. This is an approach you don't see much of anywhere else. And the result of the actions of the boy and the 'enemy' is unpredictable. The fragment is shocking.

The picture asks curious questions about the relationships between people. It is not without reason that when watching (not the whole tape, but a solid part of it) one gets the impression that interacting with people, even the closest ones, is much more difficult than surviving in a post-apocalyptic world populated by night killers.

Speaking of art-horror, there are a lot of scenes in 'Arcadian' that carry only ideological-emotional load, not plot.

And also in the picture just great design of monsters. You can suggest who they look like, but in general - very original. And creepy. And competently presented: almost to the end we see only fragments of their bodies.

Actors. Young Max Jenkins and Jayden Martell desperately lack convincing: it's as if the heroes are not aware of the frightening world they live in. Nicolas Cage is hard to consider as an actor in general, but he's not annoying here, thank you for that. Another issue, one critic wrote, Cage should be referred to in the credits as '...and Nicolas Cage as Paul'. Reasoning.

Basically, what's worth watching 'Arcadian' for is a loosely connected set of ideas (often more emotional) and the unique look of the 'enemies'. But is the rest of the timeline worth enduring for that? To movie buffs who follow art horror and indie horror, probably yes. Other viewers - with caution.