Review: ‘Arcadian’ pits Nicolas Cage against Hungry Hungry Hippo aliens, and the result is baffling

Mixing Nicolas Cage‘s unique talent for weird horror movies and a post-apocalyptic family drama, Arcadian wisely forgoes wasting screen time explaining how humanity collapsed. Instead, a powerful opening scene sets a tone of paranoia by immersing us in a neighborhood’s spreading mood of mistrust as a mysterious threat emerges. Then the action jumps into the future, with proud father Paul (Nic Cage) doing his best to raise teenage twins Joseph (Jaeden Martell) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) in the isolated countryside, as the trio spends their days gathering resources and reinforcing their defenses against any monstrous beings who might come knocking on their doors in the middle of the night.

Deciding to skip the exposition and go straight to the characters allows Arcadian to build a solid first arc, while leaving some threads untied allows the audience’s imagination to seek the link between nasty bugs, environmental pollution, and alien creatures. Horror thrives on the unknown, and by holding back answers, Arcadian hopes the audience will make up their own terrifying version of the apocalypse.

Furthermore, giving the family time to explore their complicated relationships anchors the story despite its twisted paths; regardless of the imaginary perils lurking in Acadian’s shadows, it’s easy to relate to the family’s daily emotional challenges. Paul wants to prepare his children to survive in a hostile world, knowing that he won’t always be around to protect them. For their part, the twins try to forge their own identity, an arduous journey even when societal structures haven’t fallen.

Thomas seeks to understand the world by inventing new ways to survive; Joseph, however, is an explorer with close ties to a nearby farm where his crush lives. So, despite the grim context of their raising, these are still teenagers trying to find their place in the world, and their constant bickering reflect the love and conflict that only siblings can have. Martell and Jenkins do a terrific job turning their characters into layered people, making it worth it to follow their journey even as Arcadian’s plot holes pile up.

While Cage’s star power is prominent in Arcadian’s marketing campaign, it is worth underlining that the movie’ plot takes Cage out of the spotlight, focusing primarily on the twins, a welcome decision given the undeniable synergy of the two young stars. Cage taking the second plane also contributes to Arcadian’s underlying message, which is that a parent’s job is to prepare the younger generation to replace them. However, that does get in the way of Cage unleashing the beast, a spectacle always worth watching. From Renfield to Willy’s Wonderland, there’s something mesmerizing about covering Cage in fake blood and giving him the space he needs to channel his primal self – the devastating mourning breakdown Cage performs in Mandy is still one of the best scenes in his brilliant career.

Cage’s presence, as fabulous as it is, reveals Arcadian main problem, which is its tone. After a solid first arc focused on character dynamics, the creatures that serve as main antagonists start to creep onto the screen. These monsters are wild, born from a macabre blend of animal and human features that only improve as we see them hunting their prey. Sadly, Arcadian doesn’t know how to balance the bonkers concept of its creatures with the small-scaled, slow-burn drama it’s trying to build. As a result, the movie unsuccessfully intercalates scenes where all hell breaks loose with heartfelt speeches that are unearned at best, and blatantly fake at worst. Fortunately, the movie’s unique creature design makes up for every plot mistake. It’s an entertaining mess, for sure, but a mess nevertheless.

Thanks to successful productions such as A Quiet Place, The Walking Dead, and The Last of Us, apocalyptic dramas focused on human relationships have been quite popular in recent years. As such, Arcadian is not the first to try to bank on this profitable trend, nor will it be the last. Sadly, this is not the most successful attempt to recreate the formula, mainly because it feels like Arcadian hasn’t decided what kind of movie it wants to be. It intends to show Nic Cage fighting monsters in action-infused set pieces that defy suspended disbelief. All the while, it wants its core characters to have credible and grounded journeys. In the end, it does neither. 

The battles against the creatures never fulfill their full potential – although we have to applaud their creative approach, Critters nod included. At the same time, the twins’ story is often undermined by questionable developments that serve only to justify the action scenes. As such, Arcadian is never scary, thrilling, or moving enough, with all these goals clashing instead of completing each other. In short, sometimes it feels that Arcadian is trying to build an entire movie just to showcase its unique creatures – to be fair, those creatures deserve their time on the big screen.

It’s hard to figure out Arcadian, because each element shines independently. The movie boasts excellent performances, believable relationships, and over-the-top creatures that steal the show every time they appear. However, the way everything is put together doesn’t quite work, resulting in a fun movie that’s not more forgettable due only to its villains. Then again, who are we trying to trick? As horror fans, we are all suckers for good creature design – a domain in which the movie excels. So, for those of us satisfied with a cool monster to look at, Arcadian is a huge hit.

Arcadian comes to theaters on Friday, April 12, 2024. The movie will be later available for streaming on Shudder.