What if the greatest story ever told was retold as a nightmare? That’s the unsettling premise behind “The Carpenter’s Son,” the new film from Lotfy Nathan. Starring Nicolas Cage as Joseph, FKA twigs as Mary, and Noah Jupe as their son Jesus, the movie transforms a tale of faith and devotion into a battle against supernatural corruption, where every miracle carries a trace of menace. Opening this fall from Magnolia Pictures, it promises to be one of the year’s boldest reimaginings of biblical lore.
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Set in a remote village in Roman-era Egypt, the story follows Joseph, Mary, and their teenage son as they strive to hold onto faith and tradition amid constant threats. When they stop in a small settlement, their fragile peace shatters. A mysterious young stranger, played by Isla Johnston, begins to entice Jesus away from his father’s rules, coaxing him toward temptation. Each step closer unleashes darker forces until Joseph realizes he is confronting a demonic power — and that the child’s new playmate is Satan in disguise.
Nathan, drawing on his Coptic Christian background, brings specificity and unease to a story that merges biblical allegory with horror. The film is loaded with nightmarish visions — violent disruptions, unnatural events, glimpses of an apocalyptic future — all serving as a portrait of faith besieged. He positions the narrative as a genre-bending supernatural thriller that refuses to comfort, instead blurring the line between divine purpose and demonic possession.
For Cage, it’s another chance to push into the extremes of faith and fear, echoing his recent run of audacious roles. Twigs makes her feature acting debut in a part that blends maternal devotion with quiet terror. Jupe, one of the most acclaimed young actors of his generation, carries the weight of portraying Jesus as a boy tempted by darkness. And Johnston anchors the film’s dread, embodying a deceptively innocent stranger whose actual name carries the ultimate revelation.
With its imagery of spiritual warfare and demonic infiltration, “The Carpenter’s Son” joins a lineage of religious horror while carving its own path with unnerving detail. Nathan’s meticulous craft and lived perspective suggest a film designed to provoke as much as terrify, leaving audiences shaken long after it ends.
“The Carpenter’s Son” will be released by Magnolia Pictures sometime this fall, but no date has been made official yet. Watch the trailer below.
Edward Davis is a senior film journalist and longtime contributor to The Playlist. Davis covers the full breadth of cinema — from major studio releases to independent and international film.
