‘Arcadian’ Review – Inventive Creatures, Poor Showcase

In Arcadian, the world has collapsed. Civilization has succumbed to air pollution, and strange creatures that only come out at night wipe out the remaining survivors.

A father named Paul (Nicolas Cage) and his twin teenage boys Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) and Joseph (Jaeden Martell) have strict boundaries and reside in a two-story farmhouse, where they attempt to survive nightly; developing a routine that seems to work.

One night, when Thomas doesn’t come home after venturing off on his own during a salvage run, Paul goes out to look for his son, leaving Joseph to protect the farmhouse. The family of three is never the same after that evening.

Benjamin Brewer directs the action horror film. In 2016, Brewer worked with Nicolas Cage, previously with The Trust. Brewer also has experience with visual effects and was the lead VFX artist for Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Mike Nilon — who’s only other writing credit was for the 2018 action thriller Braven, starring Jason Momoa — pens the film. With Arcadian, Nilon has produced ten Nicolas Cage films since 2014, including Willy’s Wonderland and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

Arcadian mostly has an atmosphere similar to the A Quiet Place franchise, except the dystopian world they live in doesn’t require complete silence. With black bodies, long appendages, and the ability to stretch their talons incredibly far, the creatures in the film are some of the coolest and most uniquely designed since Attack the Block.

They also operate like moles and can borrow and attack from the ground, featuring hairy bodies, long ostrich necks, and an elongated head similar to that of a horse. Creepily enough, these heads snap back and forth at inhuman speed, similar to that of a Venus fly trap attached to a Hungry Hungry Hippo game board. As a pack, they travel in mass and roll around like giant car tires.

Frank Mobilio, who mostly has experience in music videos, is the film’s cinematographer and, unfortunately, Arcadian has some rocky cinematography and horrid lighting. Constantly bouncing around during the film’s quiet moments doesn’t make anything feel more authentic and, more often than not, you can’t make heads or tails of whatever these creatures are doing on screen.

Thomas and Joseph are supposed to be twins but look nothing alike. Thomas is selfish and only thinks about the tingling in his balls that have just dropped. Conversely, Joseph is a genius whose mind is always working while building things, but he’s a bit of a wimp when it comes time to do anything physical.

Thomas is written as an absolute idiot. Nearly all of the issues this family faces in the film are because of him; taking offense when he’s called out on it. He spends all his time helping another farm and makes the stupidest decisions imaginable.

The way Arcadian introduces this critter-filled wasteland is fantastic. The film starts with Paul scrounging for supplies in a house with a body in the garage. As he leaves, Paul then runs down an alleyway as you hear sirens and explosions. He comes home to two crying babies before the film jumps 15 years into the future.

There’s no electricity as windows are boarded and barricaded at night. People mostly use gas-powered lanterns. Paul and his boys endure an attack that first night, pounding on their front door after dark, resulting in deep claw marks, and replacing the wood the following morning.

The bug thing doesn’t add up. The dead bodies of the creatures seem to attract these giant, scarab-looking insects and cockroaches. Arcadian also toys with the quiet that comes with nightfall. The most significant instance is when Joseph traps one of the creatures when the only sound you hear beforehand is a cricket chirping slowly.

Arcadian has wonky camera work; some scenes are too dark to appreciate. The storyline is also familiar for a dystopian film. Benjamin Brewer described the film as a coming-of-age film set in the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max.

There are very few surprises in its writing, which could be better. However, the creature design is so different and crazy, and the performances are strong even if the characters aren’t.

NEXT: ‘Civil War’ Review – A Gripping Nationwide Nightmare