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Nicolas Cage Stars As Jesus’ Father In Horror Retelling That’s Breaking The Internet
Nicolas Cage is no stranger to unusual roles, but his latest project may be his most controversial yet.
In the trailer for The Carpenter’s Son, the Oscar-winning actor, 61, takes on the role of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, in a horror reimagining of the biblical story.
The film is inspired by the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and it has sparked heated debate as fans tried to make sense of the unsettling twist on scripture.
Highlights
- Nicolas Cage stars as Joseph in an upcoming biblical horror movie that already has social media buzzing.
- The trailer for The Carpenter’s Son depicted a young Jesus facing terrifying visions and dark encounters.
- Fans are split, with some calling it “absolute cinema” and others insisting it should never have been made.
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The trailer shows a dark and unsettling take on Jesus’ childhood
Image credits: Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing
Directed by Lofty Nathan, The Carpenter’s Son transports viewers to Roman-era Egypt, where Joseph and Mary are struggling to protect their young son from supernatural forces.
Nicolas Cage could be heard delivering heavy lines in the trailer’s opening moments. “What awaits us when we turn at last to d**th? Let my faith endure. Faith. My only strength to bear against the devil itself,” Cage said.
Image credits: Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing
British actor Noah Jupe is cast as young Jesus, though in the movie, his character is simply called “The Boy,” while singer FKA Twigs takes on the role of Mary, according to the Daily Mail.
The film also features a mysterious Stranger, played by Isla Johnston, who confronts The Boy. “I’m the accuser of life. I am the adversary,” the Stranger said in the trailer.
Image credits: theagnft
Over the course of the trailer, Joseph’s fear is heightened as he admits that his son “bears a power I cannot understand. A power I cannot contain.”
Magnolia Pictures, which is releasing the movie on November 14, describedThe Carpenter’s Son as a story where violent and unnatural events follow Jesus, leading him to experience disturbing visions of the future.
Image credits: Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing
The film is inspired by the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, an apocryphal Christian text that allegedly discusses events from Jesus’ life as a child between the ages of 5 and 12, according to Britannica.
The apocryphal text features a number of interesting events that are not found in the Holy Bible, from Jesus transforming clay birds into living creatures when he was five years old, to people incurring Jesus’ wrath.
Image credits: Urhiemefe_
Simply put, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas portrays Jesus as a caring, mischievous, and occasionally cruel figure as he grapples with his divine power.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is not canon to the Holy Bible, and some groups have even described the text as heretical.
Movie fans have reacted with confusion, criticism, and fascination to the biblical horror film
Image credits: Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing
As soon as the full-length trailer hit the internet, reactions flooded social media. Many viewers were baffled, with one X user writing, “Can we genuinely not do this.”
Another dismissed it as “garbage,” questioning why Cage would attach himself to such a film. Comments like, “No thanks” and “Nobody asked for this” echoed across social media platforms.
THE CARPENTER’S SON. Fall 2025 A.D. pic.twitter.com/DdYVYyYIQ8
— Magnolia Pictures (@MagnoliaPics) August 27, 2025
Just as many were intrigued, however. “That’s either going to be cinema history… or the wildest fever dream ever put on screen,” one fan said, adding, “Either way, I’m watching.”
Another posted, “Nicolas Cage in a biblical horror movie? That’s a combo I didn’t know I needed.”
Image credits: Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing
Some fans embraced the film’s boldness, writing, “Biblical horror is a genre I didn’t know I needed until now,” while others praised Cage’s horror career resurgence.
“Nicholas Cage as Jesus’ stepdad is not on my 2025 bingo card,” one commenter noted.
Image credits: archontici
The backlash was just as sharp. Skeptics asked why Jesus’ childhood needed to be framed as a horror film, with one user writing, “Still wondering why this has to be horror man,” and another simply posting, “Why.”
Nicolas Cage is currently in his horror movie arc
Image credits: Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing
The controversy around The Carpenter’s Son comes after Cage’s recent horror success. In 2024, he starred in the horror thriller movie Longlegs, where he played a serial killer.
Cage’s performance drew critical praise, helping the movie generate $128 million at the box office from a modest $10 million budget.
Image credits: Getty/Alberto Rodriguez
Cage’s current horror arc is not surprising, however, as he has previously spoken very highly of the genre. “I have always maintained that horror, when done well, is genuinely surreal,” he previously told the Associated Press.
“It doesn’t have to rely on physics or reality. It can allow actors to express themselves in other ways besides that which is considered the arbiter of great acting, which is 1970s naturalism.”
With his latest role, Cage seems to be pushing his boundaries again, though whether he could straddle the line between artistry and provocation properly remains to be seen.
Netizens shared their thoughts on Nicolas Cage’s new biblical horror movie on social media
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What do you think ?
Apatheist Account2 2 months ago (edited)
Earthly mother's husband, possibly, but there is a rumour that the actual father was a Roman soldier called Pantos, Panthera or Pantera (hence the suggestion of a virgin birth, since she wasn't "known" to Joseph). One has to admire the BP editors for letting someone with that surname write the article :)
BrunoVI 2 months ago (edited)
Jesus was prophesized to be born to a virgin. Jews insist that the Jewish word doesn't necessarily mean strictly virgin, but could mean someone who isn't married, the way in old times "maiden" presumes virginity but doesn't strictly insist that every last "maiden" actually be a virgin. The presumption certainly would be that the subject was a virgin: a godly woman who was never married, whose pregnancy astounded people as a miracle which would show that God had chosen her as a sign to all nations. In any event, the Greek bible which still preceded the birth of Jesus by a couple of centuries, unambiguously prophesized she would be a virgin. In certain prayers, the Greeks named Jesus, "Pantos" in a series of descriptions, such as Jesus Pantocrator (creator of everything), Jesus Pantheia (Source of all wisdom), etc. (I don't know Greek, so excuse me if I've misspelled or oversimplified anything.)
Load More Replies...
Mel in Georgia 2 months ago
Well, even in the traditional telling of Jesus' birth and childhood, the parents went through what must have been terrifying and mystifying things. Unexplained pregnancy, terrible (as in scary) angels appearing, strangers showing up after the birth, a son who must have seemed possessed at times ...
Ben Aziza 2 months ago (edited)
One thing that I have always found extra fked up in the story of jesus is that it is basically a "god" that did a zeus and fked one of his creations to spawn a version of himself that is also his son???!!!?? Layer upon layers of disgusting... The next cult patch 3.0 aka Islam "fixed that" by just making the story that he is just a prophet. Then somehow fked it up even more as their "last prophet" the "perfect human" went on to hypocritically break his own rule of max 4 wives and had a hareem... AND out did himself in how fked up a person can be by "marrying" a child... Why ppl stay in those cults is beyond me. Either they don't actually know the "accepted historical canon" told by the current cult leaders, Or they are just fine with wired p**o stuff as long as they remain in the fold... Enough muslims made excuses for that disgusting marriage that i can now only feel contempt towards anyone willingly staying in that cult.
Load More Replies...
BrunoVI 2 months ago
The Infancy Narrative is a wild one, but not seeing how it's a "horror" movie. The story is "gnostic;" the gnostics believed they could mystically make themselves aware of events that they did not learn by historical means, as opposed to the apostolic gospels, which were written by witnesses or the people recording what the witnesses taught. (The author of John claims to be a witness; the author of Luke claims to be recording the testimony of witnesses to settle various legends; Mark is believed to have been the secretary of St. Peter. Mathew seems to be in part a witness who deferred to Mark's telling and included some of the same sources as Luke.) The infancy narrative thus includes stories which are not in the bible, but seem very plausible to those who hold the bible to be true; but also includes some wierd and wild assertions, making Jesus seem more like a wizard than a mystic miracle-worker.
Apatheist Account2 2 months ago (edited)
Earthly mother's husband, possibly, but there is a rumour that the actual father was a Roman soldier called Pantos, Panthera or Pantera (hence the suggestion of a virgin birth, since she wasn't "known" to Joseph). One has to admire the BP editors for letting someone with that surname write the article :)
BrunoVI 2 months ago (edited)
Jesus was prophesized to be born to a virgin. Jews insist that the Jewish word doesn't necessarily mean strictly virgin, but could mean someone who isn't married, the way in old times "maiden" presumes virginity but doesn't strictly insist that every last "maiden" actually be a virgin. The presumption certainly would be that the subject was a virgin: a godly woman who was never married, whose pregnancy astounded people as a miracle which would show that God had chosen her as a sign to all nations. In any event, the Greek bible which still preceded the birth of Jesus by a couple of centuries, unambiguously prophesized she would be a virgin. In certain prayers, the Greeks named Jesus, "Pantos" in a series of descriptions, such as Jesus Pantocrator (creator of everything), Jesus Pantheia (Source of all wisdom), etc. (I don't know Greek, so excuse me if I've misspelled or oversimplified anything.)
Load More Replies... Mel in Georgia 2 months ago
Well, even in the traditional telling of Jesus' birth and childhood, the parents went through what must have been terrifying and mystifying things. Unexplained pregnancy, terrible (as in scary) angels appearing, strangers showing up after the birth, a son who must have seemed possessed at times ...
Ben Aziza 2 months ago (edited)
One thing that I have always found extra fked up in the story of jesus is that it is basically a "god" that did a zeus and fked one of his creations to spawn a version of himself that is also his son???!!!?? Layer upon layers of disgusting... The next cult patch 3.0 aka Islam "fixed that" by just making the story that he is just a prophet. Then somehow fked it up even more as their "last prophet" the "perfect human" went on to hypocritically break his own rule of max 4 wives and had a hareem... AND out did himself in how fked up a person can be by "marrying" a child... Why ppl stay in those cults is beyond me. Either they don't actually know the "accepted historical canon" told by the current cult leaders, Or they are just fine with wired p**o stuff as long as they remain in the fold... Enough muslims made excuses for that disgusting marriage that i can now only feel contempt towards anyone willingly staying in that cult.
Load More Replies... BrunoVI 2 months ago
The Infancy Narrative is a wild one, but not seeing how it's a "horror" movie. The story is "gnostic;" the gnostics believed they could mystically make themselves aware of events that they did not learn by historical means, as opposed to the apostolic gospels, which were written by witnesses or the people recording what the witnesses taught. (The author of John claims to be a witness; the author of Luke claims to be recording the testimony of witnesses to settle various legends; Mark is believed to have been the secretary of St. Peter. Mathew seems to be in part a witness who deferred to Mark's telling and included some of the same sources as Luke.) The infancy narrative thus includes stories which are not in the bible, but seem very plausible to those who hold the bible to be true; but also includes some wierd and wild assertions, making Jesus seem more like a wizard than a mystic miracle-worker.
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