Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: ARCADIAN [South By Southwest Film Festival 2024 - Austin, Texas]
The aspect of survival is based on a reason to push on. "Arcadian" [Narrative Spotlight] is really structured in horror but uses the essence of creatures (like "A Quiet Place") to break down the norms of society when the basic elements are the only things that need to remain. These are namely love and loyalty but they are always balance with the texture of rage and helplessness. Nicolas Cage headlines as Paul, a father of sorts to two boys whom he takes care of in the prologue. The world has ended in many ways and an invasion has happened. People are sequestered in the countryside and waiting for the evenings when attacks come. The two boys are played by Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins. Martell fares a bit better as the younger Joseph who is more technically and logically inclined. Unlike "Y2K" earlier in the festival where his character is little more aimless, this character (and his direction) is more acutely focused. Jenkins plays Thomas who is more emotionally strained but doesn't fare as well. Only afterwards did this reviewer realize he played Will Robinson in Netflix's recent "Lost In Space" series. He has grown since then but his character doesn't quite hit correctly. The peformance is there but something seems off.
Sadie Sink plays his love interest from a separate farm and she is quite good (though initially one thinks she is a more grown up Mackenzie Foy from "Interstellar"). Director Ben Brewer has a good cast and the location in Ireland has promise to bring the creatures alive. Brewer had worked on "Everything Everywhere At Once" and that DIY texture works here. But it has been done better unfortunately in "A Quiet Place". Again this is a different story but it does reflect in family and loss of a father. Cage plays it more muted as one should but this is more the story of the brothers but the overt connection is not truly felt. Martell has the best scene with the most iconic imagery which shows the ingenuity and the approach of the character. A more fight-back , studying "I Am Legend" approach with him as a solo outing might fare better since this is more about origins. The dread is there of course and the creatures are unrelenting...but we have seen this approach before and done a little better. It doesn't take away the coolness of doing it but the mythology is not built enough even though the stakes are high. B-
By Tim Wassberg
