Film Review: Arcadian is strong on claustrophobia - but disjointed

"Borrowing heavily from HG Wells and Richard Matheson, Arcadian is at its strongest in the claustrophobic action sequences when the house-bound Paul and his sons are attacked by feral troglodytes..."

Arcadian

• Arcadian
• ★★★☆☆
• Cinema release

On to a more conventional apocalypse with Arcadian (15A), which stars Nicolas Cage as Paul, a father rearing teenage sons Joseph (Jaedan Martell) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) in a dystopian world (actually rural Wicklow), in which the night comes alive with ravenous humanoid creatures determined to wipe out the “virus” of humanity.

Paul is smart, organised, and disciplined — but for how long can he and his boys stave off the inevitable?

Borrowing heavily from HG Wells and Richard Matheson, Arcadian is at its strongest in the claustrophobic action sequences when the house-bound Paul and his sons are attacked by the feral troglodytes, whose rapid-fire jaw-snapping is an admittedly terrifying sight.

When the plot broadens out to follow Thomas and Joseph’s differing methods of coping with life under constant siege, however, the storytelling — with Mike Nilon writing and Benjamin Brewer directing — becomes disjointed, loosening its grip on the internal logic that renders our heroes’ plight so tragic.

• (theatrical release)