Studio: RLJE Films
Release Date: 7/23/2024
Rating: R
Film Grade: C+
The Story: The time is the near future and conflict is omni-present. Paul scavenges deserted buildings for anything that might be useful for survival. He gathers his two twin sons and leaves the city that’s currently under siege.
Fifteen years later, the family has fortified an abandoned farmhouse that acts as a home base. Life is normal during the day, but once the sun sets, the outside world is hostile and unsafe. Creatures of unknown origin assault the last vestiges of humanity without mercy as they prowl those dark evening hours.
My Take: Nicolas Cage has been enjoying a career renaissance in the past decade. It’s hard to believe, but I just calculated that 25% of his four-decade-plus movie output has been released over the past six years. Not bad for a sixty-year-old actor. That said, you never know what kind of Cage performance you’re in for. It could range anywhere from goofy, to unhinged, to serious. This title falls firmly into the serious category. If you’re looking for a googly-eyed, wacky role, look elsewhere.
While Cage gets top billing (for obvious reasons), his character isn’t the focus of the movie. Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins play the two brothers, Joseph and Thomas, who are virtual opposites. Joseph is the reserved, brainy one, while Thomas is brash and athletic. Cage does his best to instill them with crucially needed survival skills and coaching them to grow in their own strengths, all while keeping peace between their very different personalities. Their development in the face of adversity forms the core of the movie.
IMBD lists the budget for the movie at $7M. If that’s the case, they got a lot for their money on this independent film, with the creature design really standing out. These are unlike the normal monsters we’re used to seeing and have a creepy, unsettling appearance. They’re a blend of practical and CGI effects, and the majority of shots look convincing. There are a couple of examples that don’t quite cut it, but they’re the exception. I really liked their frazzled, abhorrent look, and it’s one of the reasons why I bumped the grade up a notch above average. They used motion capture to get the movements down, and the effect can be remarkably convincing.
Visuals: The film was shot in Ireland, and the outdoor scenes have a natural, dreary look to them that perfectly fits the mood of the movie. Indoor scenes capture the deteriorating, drab environment of a world that has collapsed. Living quarters are sparce in some spots, with others being filled with all kinds of collected items that may prove useful at some time, reflecting the scavenging necessary to survive in such a time. The set pieces work well in establishing how things have devolved over those 15 years.
Some scenes were shot in really low light, and the result can be murky and lacking in definition. Those are typically accompanied by action which can make it challenging to figure out what’s happening in the moment. Any questions are quickly answered in the following scenes, so the plot doesn’t suffer, but those dark shots could have been better handled.
Camera work is of the active variety, which starts from the opening of the movie, where a long tracking shot follows Cage as he jogs evasively down the deserted city streets. Likewise, the action scenes use fast cuts to both portray the chaos but also to help aid the low-budget special effects.
Audio: As with most low-budget films, we get a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix on the disc, and it features some good effects. The opening sequence of the film has some punchy artillery fire. The creature sounds are appropriately creepy. There’s not much of a musical score; most of the sound is dialog and environmental. Dialog is clear and intelligible throughout.
As an aside, I did use my HTP-1’s DTS Neural X upmixer on this film, as I typically do for 5.1 and 7.1 mixes. This movie offers some good test material for that. There’s a shoreline scene that highlights both why I love the upmixer and others might prefer the original sound. It starts with seagulls flying overhead, and Neural X puts them in the tops, where they should be. (This is a pet peeve of mine with some Atmos tracks. There are plenty of those mixes that have birds, but their chirps and calls only get placed in the bed channel. It’s such a simple and natural effect that I can’t fathom why it isn’t just the normal practice to stick some of them up top.)
Now, on to the negative. Along with those squawking birds, the upmixer also put the tide’s wave sounds in the tops. Since the scene was shot on a bluff overlooking the seaside, there’s no way that the sound should be coming from the ceiling. Listening to all the channels playing at once, you wouldn’t be able to pick out that some of the waves are placed above you. The primary audible effect is to add more envelopment to the sequence without being a distraction. I’ll continue to use the upmixer, but can understand why some people may not care for it. There’s also the possibility that the room’s sound characteristics may alter one’s perception to prefer one choice or the other.
Special Features: The features are really short but provide some insight to the making of the movie. Worth watching, if you’re curious. Oddly, there was no interview with Cage.
- Visual effects behind the scenes
- Interview with cast and crew: Benjamin Brewer & David Wulf, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins
Final Verdict: I’ve been finding some nice surprises in these smaller, independent movies lately. The reduced budgets allow for newer filmmakers to get a start while developing their talents. The results give me great hopes for the future, seeing that there are new creators arriving that can give us new stories rather than sequel after rehashed sequel.
At its essence, Arcadian can be compared to A Quiet Place. The movie positions itself as a family drama, with conflicts between the fraternal twins as they take those steps of growing from boys to men. There are enough differences between the two films to allow this one to be its own thing. It isn’t a deep movie, and its 92 minutes move along at a brisk pace, keeping the audience engaged.
The film could have spent a little more time developing the characters and fleshing out the backstory. And the end invites comparisons to another title that was roasted for a similar tactic when it was released two decades prior, and should have been rewritten. Still, there are plenty of chances to wonder what’s going to happen next and we get some tense moments when things may not go as we’d expect.
The film is interesting enough to recommend as a view, but not as a blind buy. It didn’t leave enough of an impression on us to want to add it to our library, but my wife and I both thought it was well worth the watch. Rent it or keep an eye out for it to show up on a streaming service.
Fun Fact: The design of the creatures was partially inspired from Disney’s Goofy. Yes,
that Goofy.
My Review System:JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
Oppo BDP-93
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup
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