Nicolas Cage<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Jesus-inspired horror movie The Carpenter’s Son probably won\u2019t make it into rotation for Christmas movie marathons<\/a> in the future.<\/p>\n The 2025 blockbuster, which was written and directed by filmmaker Lotfy Nathan<\/strong>, loosely adapts lesser-known and disputed stories of Jesus Christ\u2019s teenage years into a brutal and bloody tale about the religious figure (A Quiet Place Part II and The Night Manager\u2019s Noah Jupe<\/strong>) and his family on the run from demonic forces.<\/p>\n In The Carpenter’s Son, Jesus is desperate for answers over whether the man who raised him (Cage) is his true father. His confusion could lead him into falling prey to a sinister entity known as The Stranger (The Queen’s Gambit star Isla Johnston<\/strong>). Pop star FKA Twigs<\/strong> also has a leading role as \u201cThe Mother,\u201d another mysterious figure who unquestionably holds crucial answers over Jesus Christ\u2019s origin.<\/p>\n Despite the film\u2019s impressive cast and spooky story, The Carpenter’s Son has been mostly savaged by critics, who derided<\/a> it as Jesus Christ\u2019s \u201cfirst and most boring temptation\u201d and insisted<\/a> seeing it was \u201clike watching paint dry for an hour and a half.\u201d As of November 2025, The Carpenter’s Son has an overwhelmingly negative 35 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nicolas Cage Dodged Bad Weather and Sharks While Learning to Surf for Latest Film<\/a><\/p>\n Keep scrolling for more on the negative reviews and The Carpenter’s Son\u2019s disputed subject matter.<\/p>\n An official synopsis for The Carpenter’s Son cryptically hints: \u201cA remote village in Roman-era Egypt explodes into spiritual warfare when a carpenter, his wife and their child are targeted by supernatural forces.”<\/p>\n The script was written and directed by Lotfy Nathan<\/strong>, who gained international recognition for following a group of urban dirt bikers in Baltimore, Maryland, in the 2013 documentary 12 O’Clock Boys.<\/p>\n The Carpenter’s Son is partially inspired by The Infancy Gospel of Thomas.<\/p>\n The Carpenter’s Son is a mostly original story that takes some inspiration from The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, a disputed addition to the New Testament that supposedly fills in gaps from Jesus\u2019s adolescence. Religious scholars have attacked The Infancy Gospel of Thomas as heretical for the way it deviates from traditional biblical dogma.<\/p>\n The Infancy Gospel of Thomas takes place during Jesus Christ\u2019s childhood, between ages 5 and 12, as the future Messiah of Christianity learns to use his superhuman powers for good. One story involves a mishap where Jesus accidentally turns his neighbor blind after the man complained to his parents, Mary and Joseph, while another passage references the young Messiah transforming clay pigeons into living birds.<\/p>\n \u201c[The Infancy Gospel of Thomas] is written like a laundry list of events. It doesn\u2019t really have an arc, so to speak,\u201d Nathan told the Associated Press<\/a>. \u201cI had a historian pull a lot of research for me before I wrote the first draft.\u201d<\/p>\n FKA Twigs in The Carpenter’s Son<\/span> Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures<\/span><\/p>\n The Carpenter’s Son introduces an original character named The Stranger (Isla Johnston), who possesses strange and disturbing powers of her own. The Carpenter’s Son official trailer<\/a> hints that The Stranger is a demonic entity \u2014 or perhaps Satan herself \u2014 on a mission to use Jesus\u2019 powers for her own evil means.<\/p>\n Yes. The Carpenter’s Son has proved to be very controversial for turning the life of Jesus Christ into a gruesome horror movie and for adapting the disputed Infancy Gospel of Thomas.<\/p>\n The American Family Association<\/a> (AMA) created a petition demanding producers Magnolia Pictures \u201ccancel this dark and blasphemous film\u201d in September 2025. The organization warned its readers not to be \u201cmisled by the title\u201d of The Carpenter’s Son.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a Christian film,\u201d the group complained. \u201cThe Carpenter\u2019s Son is not a biblically accurate portrayal of Christ\u2019s childhood. Inspired by the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas, the movie focuses on the childhood of Jesus from a horror perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n 12 Must-Watch Hulu Thrillers to Stream Right Now (November 2025): \u2018The International\u2019 and More<\/a><\/p>\n Their statement went on, \u201cDetails of the plot are vague, but the unsettling trailer describes Jesus\u2019 life as a horror-thriller with a possessed and supernatural force. This is not a movie Christians want to see.\u201d<\/p>\n The AMA argued that it was \u201cextremely disrespectful to Christians\u201d to purposefully create a movie that was \u201cblasphemous,\u201d before warning that The Carpenter’s Son could be \u201cdangerous and confusing to children.\u201d<\/p>\n Other religious groups objected<\/a> to the movie potentially portraying Jesus as an \u201cinherently evil or malevolent force,\u201d and there were even protests planned<\/a> outside of theaters screening The Carpenter’s Son.<\/p>\n Critics were not much kinder to The Carpenter’s Son than religious groups \u2014 though they had different complaints. One of the overriding criticisms of The Carpenter’s Son was that there weren\u2019t many true scares.<\/p>\n TheWrap<\/a> credited The Carpenter\u2019s Son with having \u201cinteresting ideas,\u201d though its reviewer suggested the movie couldn\u2019t live up to its intriguing premise.<\/p>\n \u201c[The ideas] just don\u2019t seem interesting because the perspective is cockeyed, which nullifies the film\u2019s ability to trouble our hearts,\u201d the outlet noted.<\/p>\n The AV Club<\/a> complained: \u201cIt takes dedication to make a dull movie where Nicolas Cage plays Joseph and Jesus gets into a fistfight with Satan, but The Carpenter\u2019s Son sets to its task with devotion, if little else.\u201d<\/p>\n Slant<\/a>\u00a0dinged The Carpenter\u2019s Son for its \u201csimplistic\u201d retelling of Jesus Christ\u2019s origin story and \u201cstrained seriousness,\u201d while also finding fault with Cage\u2019s “unusually muted\u201d performance.<\/p>\n \u201cFor all its visual stylishness, The Carpenter\u2019s Son feels like such an essentially misconceived project that it seems destined for future cult status, with audiences at midnight screenings shouting out the more outrageous lines in unison with the actors,\u201d The Hollywood Reporter<\/a> insisted in its review.<\/p>\n Nicolas Cage in The Carpenter’s Son<\/span> Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures<\/span><\/p>\n The Carpenter\u2019s Son only has a 35 percent critical score via Rotten Tomatoes as of November 2025, though not all critics disliked it. (No audience score has been determined at the time of this writing.)<\/p>\n Deadline<\/a> admitted that The Carpenter\u2019s Son \u201cmight not fully please devotees\u201d of religion or horror movies while still giving the film credit for being \u201cdifferent.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks to its great performances, the historical drama takes on deeply psychological hues, making for a surprisingly fun take on the familiar, despite its occasionally conservative imagery,\u201d IGN<\/a> wrote.<\/p>\n Cage acknowledged controversy over the release of The Carpenter\u2019s Son by referencing the backlash faced by director Martin Scorsese<\/strong>\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ. Scorsese\u2019s 1988 movie drew widespread protests from religious groups for its depiction of Jesus, played by Willem Dafoe<\/strong>, struggling to overcome various forms of temptation.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in line to get my tickets and I remember there were the picketers and they were angry. And I said, \u2018Well have you seen the movie?\u2019 And they said no,\u201d Cage told the Associated Press. \u201cDon\u2019t you think you should see it before you make a statement about it or judge it?\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cNobody wanted to offend anybody in the making of this movie. If anyone does go to this movie, they would see that everyone treated it with love and not with any approach of mockery or contempt. It was all about love.\u201d<\/p>\nWhat Is \u2018The Carpenter’s Son\u2019 About?<\/h2>\n
What Is \u2018The Infancy Gospel of Thomas\u2019?<\/h2>\n
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Has \u2018The Carpenter’s Son\u2019 Caused Controversy With Religious Groups?<\/h2>\n
What Are Critics Saying About \u2018The Carpenter’s Son\u2019?<\/h2>\n
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What Has Nicolas Cage Said About \u201cThe Carpenter\u2019s Son\u2019?<\/h2>\n