By DEIRDRE CRIMMINS
Starring Stars Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins
Directed by Benjamin Brewer
Written by Mike Nilon
RLJE Films
As much fun as it can be to watch the world end, seeing what happens after can be a dark pleasure unto itself. Depictions of how society is shaped – if there is a society left – take some rumination and creativity to reflect the dedication humans have to preserving life as well as the way their emotions can undercut those efforts. ARCADIAN puts the time and thought into picturing what happens after the world ends.
Written by Nic Cage’s longtime agent and occasional producer, Mike Nilon, ARCADIAN (arriving on VOD May 1 following festival and brief theatrical play) is a far cry from the gonzo, scene-chewing Cage that might be expected in a post-apocalyptic film. He is by no means the main character of the film, but he does start it.
ARCADIAN opens with Cage escaping a smoldering city of ashes. In his escape, he stops to rescue two infants who have been stowed just at the edge of the city – away from the destruction. Fifteen years later, teens Joseph and Thomas along with Paul (Cage) are living in a remote country house. While the details of their situation reveal themselves over time, it is clear by their alarmingly sharp curfew and fortified house that not all has returned to normal. As the story unfolds, we learn more and more about what they are hiding from and why Paul chooses to isolate the boys over potentially joining forces with a neighboring farm. The deeper we sink into their world, the graver the consequences are.
ARCADIAN exhibits its brilliance in its control of details. Every iota of information about what is happening in the characters’ world is presented both casually and intentionally. The audience is shown, not told, what is happening just as they need that information, without telling more than necessary. “Show, don’t tell” is one of the trickiest skills in filmmaking, and displaying mastery of this should not be taken lightly. ARCADIAN knows what it is doing, and does it well.
Much of this calculated feeding schedule of detail involves what caused this global calamity, and why the survivors are still being terrorized by it a full 15 years later. Joseph (Jaeden Martell) is interested in studying and experimenting with their tormentors, while Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) just wants to live his life and venture outside their confines, testing boundaries as any typical kid would. Joseph’s observations are reminiscent of I Am Legend (the Richard Matheson novella, not whatever Will Smith was up to), filtered through the carelessness and fearlessness of a teen boy.
All of this amounts to an emotionally engaging film in which it is enticing to learn more about the characters and the predicament they are in. The two boys, Paul, and even the neighbors act in their own interests, sometimes quite intelligently. Without knowing all the details, it is impossible to know what will happen next or if they will survive. Nevertheless, we desperately want to see all of it.
ARCADIAN is emotionally authentic, terrifying and often unpredictable. Might that be the ultimate trifecta of a great horror film?
