Could The Carpenter's Son actually be (kind of) biblical? Teaser Trailer Analysis & Insights

After the release of the first teaser for Nic Cage's The Carpenter's Son, I sounded the alarm that the new Bible horror film might blasphemously portray Jesus as demonic/possessed. But I also acknowledged that there were other, more anodyne possibilities: instead of portraying Jesus himself as demonic, The Carpenter's Son may simply be inventing a story about evil spirits terrorizing Jesus' family or Satan tempting Jesus (kind of like he does in Matthew 4:1-11). Still, given Hollywood's recent track record with biblical adaptation, I was feeling fairly pessimistic. But the recently released second teaser forThe Carpenter's Son has me feeling (slightly) more hopeful. While Christians who are categorically opposed to horror will still not be pleased, it's possible that Nic Cage's new Jesus horror film won't be the blasphemous mess that I feared it could be. Below I'll analyze the new teaser for The Carpenter's Son and share my thoughts on what it tells us about the film.

Update: You can check out my review of The Carpenter's Son here and my interview with writer-director Lotfy Nathan here.

Please note: this teaser for The Carpenter's Son contains some dark and disturbing images of hell and Satan. If that sort of thing makes you uncomfortable, I would suggest skipping it and my analysis below.

The Carpenter's Son Teaser 2 Analysis

The second teaser for The Carpenter's Son once again begins with a shot of Joseph (played by Nic Cage) praying. In voice-over, we hear him exhorting the young Jesus, "Pray, to find the strength to bear against Satan." The sky is ominously red and a young man (most likely Jesus) appears to be asleep or unconscious nearby.

Joseph (played by Nic Cage) praying over Jesus in The Carpenter's Son

As Joseph's voice-over continues, we quickly cut to an image of the threat that he is warning Jesus against: a pile of (potentially demonic) corpses surrounding a terrifying pit - most likely the film's depiction of Hell or Sheol.

The entry into hell in Nic Cage's new Bible horror, The Carpenter's Son

We then get an even more literal picture of the threat: we see a figure (who we soon realize must be Satan) whispering over the shoulder of a young man (presumably Jesus).

Satan tempting Jesus in The Carpenter's Son

After another quick cut of Joseph (either grieving or praying), we see a young man (presumably Jesus) standing beneath some crosses. Since Joseph and Jesus were carpenters, my guess is that Jesus is being forced to build a cross/gallows for Rome, in a bit of foreshadowing of his future fate.

Jesus (played by Noah Jupe) stands by a cross in The Carpenter's Son

In voice-over, Jesus asks Joseph, "What does Satan look like?" and we soon get an answer. Returning to the scene of Jesus being tempted, we see the shriveled Satan figure turn and face us, as Joseph explains that Satan looks, "Like people amongst us."

We then get several quick cuts: a shot of the ominous red skies from earlier and a closer shot of hell and the pile of bodies, which are pretty clearly inhuman. But the most disturbing shot comes next.

Demons in hell in The Carpenter's Son

As the Satan figure opens his mouth, a giant serpent emerges from it, obviously evoking Satan's embodiment as a serpent in Genesis 3.

Satan in The Carpenter's Son

In another quick shot, Satan then appears to approach Joseph and attack him, while in voice-over Jesus asks, "Have you ever seen it?"

What We Learn About The Carpenter's Son

This teaser for The Carpenter's Son gives us several new insights into the film:

• In the first teaser, I was afraid that the demonic figure approaching Joseph was supposed to be Jesus. It now seems clear that the figure is actually the film's embodiment of Satan.

• My worst fear was that TCS would portray Jesus himself as inherently demonic or evil, which would be quite blasphemous. The narrative of the second teaser makes it clearer that this is a film about young Jesus being tempted by Satan, who is an external force and an embodiment of evil (as he is in Scripture). This is at least a generally biblical concept (reflecting Matthew 4:1-11), even if this specific story isn't in Scripture.

• Joseph's exhortation to Jesus to pray for strength to face Satan is quite biblical (Matthew 5:13, Luke 22:40-46). Although Jesus was already God, the Bible tells us that his human intellect had to grow in wisdom (Luke 2:52), and so it's quite appropriate for the film to show Joseph counseling him.

• The Bible is vague about Satan's appearance when he comes to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, but embodying him as human-like is quite common. The serpent from the mouth is also a way for the film to connect Jesus' temptation back to Genesis 3, which is quite fitting.

• It's still quite possible that the film could take a blasphemous turn, if it depicts Jesus giving in to Satan's temptation. But that isn't an inevitable conclusion.

If The Carpenter's Son portrays Jesus facing temptation and overcoming it with the help of Joseph, it could actually fit somewhat well with the biblical story. But I'll admit that I'm still pretty skeptical that that's what we'll get. For now, I'll wait and see what lies ahead.