Director:
Benjamin BrewerGuión:
Michael NilonCámara:
Frank MobilioMúsica:
Kristin GundredReparto:
Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins, Sadie Soverall, Samantha Coughlan, Joel Gillman, Joe DixonSinopsis(1)
In a near future, where normal life on Earth has been decimated, Paul (Cage) and his two sons, Thomas (Jenkins) and Joseph (Martell), have been living a half-life – tranquility by day and torment by night. Every night, after the sun sets, they face the unrelenting attacks of a mysterious and violent evil. One day, when Thomas doesn't return home before sundown, Paul must leave the safety of their fortified farm to find him. Just as he finds his boy, a nightmarish battle ensues that forces the family to execute a desperate plan to survive. (Vertigo Releasing)
(más)Reseñas (4)
A nice little post-apocalyptic intimate survival drama with nice monsters! You could say it's a low-budget little sibling of A Quiet Place, which is of course a level above, but the effort counts. The planet has been destroyed it's a bit annoying that we don't get to know why or how, but immediately the film focuses on Nicolas Cage, who survives with his two sons following a routine during the day as the monsters attack at night. The first half is quite slow and intimate, but it gets noticeably better as the monsters arrive. I commend the original design of the monsters and the use of practical effects (the way they knock their faces off was excellent and creepy, and the sound!). The finale is pleasantly action packed, so definitely an enjoyable monster genre film. It could could have more gore and Cage could could have started a chainsaw by the end and played Ash from Evil Dead – I would have jumped for joy, but I'm satisfied. Emotionally on a strong 3, but I'm feel generous given the current rating, and also for that crazy jump-scare at the 20 minute mark, that one really got me. 65%
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An odd place... But the Irish countryside isn't to blame, nor are the wingless Jabberwockies with vibrating heads and an interesting herd-like movement. The problem lies more in the jittery camera work, the inappropriate music "bringing hope into a world without a future," and especially the overconfidence of Cage's agent, believing he can write a post-apocalyptic horror with characters that might engage the audience. And to top it off, he left his client unconscious for half the film, depriving us of Cage's typically restrained behavior.
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Arcadian is certainly better than I would have expected from the ratings, but it still sticks to the average, falls well short of its potential and takes everything from the genre in a superficial way. There's not point in rating Nicolas Cage, as he only acted for about half an hour, and the rest relied on two child characters, who did a pretty decent job. Visually, it's plain average. That said, the film has a lot of fun and original looking monsters (a hodgepodge of about five animals that I don't even know what to compare them to) and there are a few interesting elements too (they way they roll around and eat their prey, for example), but on the other hand, there's just no bigger moment for the viewer to drool in bliss over, a stronger ending or a more memorable carnage. Story-wise, it's also classic, so in the end it's probably purely a director's cry in the dark and an attempt to contribute to the monster genre, but nothing downright groundbreaking or really interesting. Conflicting feelings.
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A good choice for today's Father's Day, as the film is set in a post-apocalyptic environment where a father of twins tries to survive each night in a barricaded house and fend off monster attacks. The tension is palpable, and the atmosphere is brilliant. Cage delivers a solid performance. The only thing I'm unsure about is the visual design of the monsters—in one scene, they are absolutely creepy, but in the next, they look like something out of a comic strip. Overall, though, it's a well-executed horror movie.
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