Arcadian

Arcadian

For about five minutes, “Arcadian” turns into “Aliens” on an Irish farm with Nicolas Cage in the Ripley role. It’s the best elevator pitch I’ve ever heard; either you’re signing up for that or you’re not. This is not James Cameron-level filmmaking; it’s a solid creature feature that sidesteps many of the pitfalls of post-apocalyptic horror (which has been A Thing lately, especially at this year’s SXSW) and delivers on its premise. It feels like “The Walking Dead” and now maybe “The Last of Us” have spawned a wave of films about how humans respond when civilization collapses and “Arcadian” is one of the better entries in this burgeoning genre about how screwed we all are.

“Arcadian” opens with Paul (Cage) fleeing what is obviously the end of the world, represented by sirens and explosions buried in the sound design, off in the distance somewhere. He’s got two twin baby boys with him. Cut to 15 years later, when Paul lives with his teen sons Joseph (Jaeden Martell) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins). We meet these characters in a moment of panic: Thomas hasn’t returned home from working at nearby Rose Farm yet, and the sun is going down. People don’t like to be out after dark.

Some character development at a table sets up that Thomas is more instinctual, takes more risks; Joseph seems more intellectual, interested in figuring out how to move beyond mere survival.

They board up all windows and doors at night, moving to a higher floor; something tries to get in through their front door, leaving scratch marks that look as if moving blades were trying to chop it down there those aren’t your ordinary wolf claws did that then dad goes out into woods after dark to save son who fell as he was running home too slow after spending a little too much time with the cute Rose daughter Charlotte (a very effective Sadie Soverall). Things get really weird. And then Benjamin Brewer and Michael Nilon drop their bomb in one of the best genre scenes I’ve seen in a while: sleeping Joseph, open panel in door, wide shot that feels like it goes on forever to ratchet up maximum tension.

What we find in those woods is just about the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s like Brewer told his creative team to bring every creature design they’d ever dreamed up and said, “Let’s do ‘em all.” The monster at the heart of it looks like a primate mated with a xenomorph. There’s that crawling, writhing energy of an H.R. Giger beast but then there’s hair and teeth and who knows what.

One of the things that works so well about “Arcadian” is that Brewer knows how to hide his budget in quick shots of creatures that don’t feel like cheap obfuscation as much as terrified glimpses. You don’t want to see this thing all at once. You couldn’t handle it. Every time you think you know what the hell these things are, they have another level of bonkers design. In one death scene, it becomes an eternal mouthful of teeth and fluid and blood and god knows what else.

I’ve been underwhelmed by creatures in horror films lately, which makes me appreciate how essential “Arcadian” reminds us they should be, you know, scary.

Having said that … some choices in “Arcadian,” especially early ones, work against it. It feels like Brewer was so concerned people would get bored during set-up (and honestly we do get into it quickly) that he goes full shaky-cam with cinematographer Frank Mobilio for no good reason other than showing movement when stillness would have been creepier.

There’s really no excuse for early scenes in a movie like this to be shot like a Paul Greengrass movie while Cageheads may be disappointed that this isn’t really his movie as much as Martell’s or Jenkins’ or even Soverall’s they’re all good but this is subdued Cage, one who knows he’s more support system for his young co-stars the human and the creature.

Ultimately, “Arcadian” may not have much character development or world-building for some people but again, the creature design overwhelms that common flaw in this genre. There’s no time to talk about why the world fell apart or even develop much of a personality when THAT comes knocking every night.

Watch Arcadian For Free On Gomovies.