Nic Cage's The Carpenter's Son: Bible Horror or Blasphemy?

When news broke about The Carpenter’s Son, a Bible-adjacent horror film starring Nicolas Cage as Joseph and FKA Twigs as Mary, I felt torn. On the one hand, I value creative approaches to biblical adaptation and I enjoy the horror genre – I would love to see a Bible horror film done right. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but wonder: will this movie really be interested in exploring Scripture’s characters and world or will it intentionally disrespect its biblical source material in order to denigrate Christianity and gain notoriety?

The first trailer for The Carpenter's Son dropped recently, and it raised a couple critical questions about how the film will portray Jesus. Here's my take on the trailer and the concerns it raises.

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Nic Cage as Joseph, adoptive father of Jesus, in The Carpenter's Son

The Carpenter’s Son Trailer: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus (?)

In the trailer, Nicolas Cage plays Joseph of Nazareth, the adoptive father of Jesus. Cage, known for his over-the-top performances, looks like he’ll be delivering his typical style. In the brief clips we get, Joseph appears to be in the middle of an intense prayer. We cut away to Mary in all black (played by FKA Twigs) and also briefly to the shrouded dead body of Jesus and then we cut to something far more chilling – a young man, seemingly in agony, screaming in a voice that can only be described as demonic.

At first, the scene was disorienting. My first thought was, “Is that Jesus?” The film's title, The Carpenter's Son, implies that the story will revolve around the early life of Jesus, especially his time growing up under the care of Joseph. But the young man’s demonic screaming raises some unsettling questions. Could this demonic figure be the film’s version of Jesus? Or is this simply a random demoniac who has come to harass Joseph and the young son of God?

A mysterious demoniac (or possibly Jesus) in The Carpenter's Son

Jesus in The Carpenter’s Son

If the young man in the trailer is just a random demoniac attacking the holy family, the film could actually be fairly orthodox in its outlook. After all, the Gospels portray evil spirits reacting to the mere presence of Jesus with strong and disturbing opposition (e.g. Mark 1:23-24). But if Jesus is the demoniac, The Carpenter’s Son may be veering down a very dark path.

One possibility is that the film is suggesting that Jesus is under demonic possession or spiritual attack – perhaps related to what he experienced during his temptation by Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-17). While I can see why a filmmaker might be intrigued by the idea of Jesus struggling with demonic forces within His own body, this would open the door to several problematic theological implications. Scripture says that all the fullness of God dwelled bodily in Jesus (Colossians 1:19). Could the fullness of God’s presence share the space of Jesus’ body with a demonic force? I think the biblical answer is clearly no. But the “Jesus is temporarily possessed” option may be less blasphemous than the other option.

FKA Twigs as Mary the mother of Jesus in The Carpenter's Son

The darker possibility is that The Carpenter’s Son is portraying Jesus himself as an inherently evil or malevolent force. It would be akin to the way Saint Maude portrays the experience of God’s indwelling presence in a manner akin to demonic possession. The purpose of portraying Jesus as a malicious force would be to invite viewers to see Christianity as evil or inherently destructive. This would, of course, be offensive in addition to being blasphemous. Ironically, it would also be nothing new. The Gospels themselves describe how the Pharisees accused Jesus of working by the power of Beelzebul (Matthew 12:24) and mention how some of Jesus’ own family accused him of being out of his mind (Mark 3:21). It wouldn’t surprise me if these passages may have played a part in inspiring the film’s take. Of course, that wouldn’t make it okay, but it’s interesting to reflect on how the world’s perennial hatred of Jesus may end up inspiring essentially the same slander in 2025 AD as it did back in 33 AD.

The Shrouded body of Jesus and his crown of thorns in The Carpenter's Son

Blasphemy for Shock Value?

If The Carpenter’s Son crosses over into blasphemy, it would most likely be done for the sake of stirring up a strong response. In horror, there’s often a temptation to lean into the disturbing and the offensive for the sake of shock value. But the funny thing is that a Hollywood film that disrespects God and faith isn’t really all that shocking anymore. Such moves have been overused and emptied of whatever power they might have held to begin with. If The Carpenter’s Son blasphemes Jesus, most secular viewers will yawn and most Christian viewers just won’t go. So the film wouldn’t even achieve its desired effect.

I’m hoping that the filmmakers are striving for something more nuanced—an exploration of the dark forces faced by the holy family and the strange and immense task of raising the Son of God. As Christians, we can appreciate art that challenges us and that dares to explore dark and disturbing aspects of our world and of the human condition. But there’s a fine line between creative freedom and outright impiety. At this point, I lean more toward skepticism but I'm open to the possibility that The Carpenter's Son could thread the needle and deal with these matters in a manner that isn't blasphemous of offensive. Regardless, I hope that The Carpenter’s Son will pave the way for more Bible horror films, which could easily be done in a way that is quite orthodox and even spiritually beneficial.