The Carpenter’s Son is a film written and directed by Lotfy Nathan, with Nicolas Cage as Joseph, FKA twigs as Mary, and Noah Jupe as a young Jesus. The supernatural thriller is inspired by Nathan’s Coptic Christian background.

“I knew going in that this would be controversial,” Nathan tells Nerd Reactor. “It wasn’t the reason that I made it. There’s another thing fundamental to this story, something that I hadn’t seen before in a film. This missing piece of the puzzle was really compelling to me. The way I see it, there are a couple of aspects of the controversy. One is the depiction of horror, that brand, and that spin on this story. I think that, for me, it really just came out of an effort to portray this with realism in mind, this setting. And as I was reading the apocryphal texts to start the script, I thought that a lot of the Bible, in fact, is scary. And I also then thought about the art that I had seen growing up, and this tradition of art throughout Christianity, and showing those different sides of it. And that, to me, is just kind of like a color value. It was like a palette to use. So it wasn’t really meant to shock that way.”

Nathan also knew going in that the film wouldn’t be for everyone, especially with the portrayal of a young Jesus.

“I think it’s actually a good thing to be able to see what’s at stake,” he added. “But then there’s obviously the practical controversy of depicting Jesus as anything but divine, to imply that he had human frailty and vulnerability in his psyche, in his soul. A lot of Christians would disagree with that fundamentally, and that’s already like a non-starter. So I’m aware that it’s not for everybody, but to me, this was an honest effort in making a story that could be relatable to many different kinds of people.”

Jesus’ teenage years and young adulthood are a mystery in the Bible, but in the film, the filmmakers explore that part of his life.

“Yeah, I think that if a single word of that script had been different, I don’t think I would have done it,” Jupe said. “But it all lined up like Lotfy’s script, the way it was crafted, the obvious fact that it was about Jesus, but how much it was also about human beings and stories, the story of one of the most influential people ever, and how they came to be that person. And it sat perfectly for me in a realm of taking inspiration from something like that while also exploring it in a creative way and not being so bound by the stuff in the text, because there was particularly not really that much text around this period of time.

“So I thought it was very smart and I thought if I was going to play Jesus, that this would be the way to do it. And yeah, I think that I really responded to it. My biggest thing was this incredible character whose superpower was empathy, and for better or for worse, he just had this extreme empathy for human beings and for the world around him, for animals. And I think that he’s such a beautiful character. And I think we really, hopefully, explore that and showcase the complexity, but in a very beautifully strong way that he is in our interpretation of this.”

About The Carpenter’s Son

Synopsis: A remote village in Roman-era Egypt explodes into spiritual warfare when a carpenter, his wife and their child are targeted by supernatural forces in The Carpenter’s Son. Joseph (Nicolas Cage), Mary (FKA twigs) and their teenage son Jesus (Noah Jupe) have lived for years under threat, clinging to their faith and traditions. But a stopover in a small settlement unleashes growing chaos when a mysterious stranger (Isla Johnston) tries to entice young Jesus to abandon his devout father’s rules. With every pull of temptation, the boy is lured into a forbidden world, as a terrified Joseph realizes that a demonic power is at work. Violent, unnatural events inexplicably follow Jesus, and he begins to experience nightmarish visions of the future. Finally, he learns the fearsome truth about his new playmate, as well as the child’s real name: Satan.

Written and directed by Lotfy Nathan, the film stars Nicolas Cage, FKA twigs, Noah Jupe and Isla Johnston.

Magnolia Pictures released The Carpenter’s Son in theaters nationwide on November 14, 2025.