Starring an Oscar-winner, the movie was filmed in Ireland.
Arcadian, one of 2024’s best action thriller hidden gem movies, is finally available to watch at home via NOW Cinema and Sky Cinema.
Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage stars as a father named Paul who, along with his twin teenage sons Thomas (Jaeden Martell, IT) and Joseph (Maxwell Jenkins, Reacher), finds refuge in a post-apocalyptic near future at a fortified countryside farm.
“[The family] have been living a half-life – tranquility by day and torment by night. When the sun sets, ferocious creatures of the night awaken and consume all living souls in their path,” the plot synopsis reads.
As Paul’s children grow older, their yearning to explore the outside world ends up putting them in peril – leading their father to venture away from the safety of home to face down the monsters and protect his kids.
Directed by Ben Brewer – who previously collaborated with Cage on the excellent crime thriller The Trust – Arcadian is essentially a cheaper-made, scrappier version of A Quiet Place. That said, it has a couple of elements that make it well-worth seeking out.
For one, the movie was shot in Dublin and Wicklow – meaning the countryside locations look great and feel the part.
The performances are uniformly excellent too, from the young cast to Cage – with the latter hugely sympathetic as a stern but clearly loving father trying to do what is best for his children.
Watching Arcadian though, what will really stick with viewers will be the inventively-designed, nightmarish creatures which look and move like absolutely nothing we’ve ever witnessed before, as well the unreal action scenes Brewer spotlights them in.
These monsters truly need to be seen to be believed.
You can read a sample of some of the positive reviews for Arcadian below:
Bloody Disgusting: “Playing like a cross between a poignant coming-of-age story and intense survival horror, Arcadian’s ultimate appeal and magic lie in the inventive monster designs and the thrilling action set pieces they inspire.”
FilmWeek: “[Director Benjamin Brewer] gets to show you his monster-making chops, and it’s pretty effective I think.”
Mashable: “It’s the monsters that bring the big, delicious, funky thrills of Arcadian… But it’s Cage and his onscreen kids who give the movie stakes and the emotional center that is required for a great monster movie, be it Jaws or Alien.”
The Observer: “Balanced and solid, with equal measures of terror and suspense… I’ll be darned if it didn’t scare the daylights out of me.”
Slant Magazine: “Even as the shotgun shells start flying, it makes time for the quiet dramatic moments that carry its family drama forward amid the carnage.”
Arcadian is available to watch now in Ireland and the UK through NOW Cinema and Sky Cinema.
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