Trailer Gives First Look at Nicolas Cage in Horror Film About the Childhood of Jesus

Nicolas Cage is set to star in a horror movie about the childhood of Jesus Christ. “The Carpenter’s Son” is based on the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas and will be released this fall. 

“Family hiding in Roman Egypt,” the film’s description reads. “Son known as ‘the Boy’ doubts guardian ‘the Carpenter,’ rebelling with mysterious powers. As he uses abilities, they face natural and divine horrors.”

While the Infancy Gospel of Thomas was likely authored a century or more after the ministry of Christ and contains teachings that Christians of various traditions generally consider to be inaccurate and even heretical, the bizarre stories told in the apocryphal account of Jesus’ childhood have long captured the imaginations of scholars and artists alike. 

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In one story, a young Jesus is depicted as breathing life into birds that he fashions out of clay. He is also said to have struck other children dead and caused blindness in adults who oppose him. He later resurrects the children (one of whom died after bumping into Jesus) and restores the sight of others. 

It remains to be seen which aspects of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas will be adapted for “The Carpenter’s Son.”

Nicolas Cage stars in film as “the Carpenter,” that is, Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus. English singer-songwriter FKA twigs portrays Mary, the mother of Jesus. Noah Jupe (“A Quiet Place”) portrays the young Jesus, referred to in the film’s description as “the Boy.”

The film is written and directed by Lotfy Nathan.

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In the film’s trailer, the “Carpenter” can be seen looking toward the sky in anguish. The trailer then cuts to an overhead shot of Mary, whose head is shaved. Mary is wearing black and weeping, and she is surrounded by other apparent mourners wearing all black.