Actor Nicolas Cage and English experimental pop artist FKA twigs step into unlikely roles in the upcoming biblical horror film The Carpenter’s Son directed by Lotfy Nathan. Released on social media, the first 30-second teaser trailer shows twigs, who plays Mary, the mother of Jesus, on her knees in a desert, crying out in despair, as Cage’s character Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus, faces a zombie-like figure looming on a boulder during sunset.
The film is a far cry from the theatrical gloss of other biblical portrayals like Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar or Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Instead, The Carpenter’s Son reimagines the biblical narrative through the lens of horror, blending sacred figures with allusions of death and existential dread. Biblical reinterpretations rarely enter horror territory, outside of symbolic references in films like Mother!, The VVitch, or possession-centered titles like The Exorcist.
Even fewer go as far as reshaping Mary and Joseph as figures inside a nightmare. Beyond stepping into Mary’s role, twigs continues to expand her film career. She will appear in Mother Mary, directed by David Lowery, alongside Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel. Mother Mary explores the relationship between a singer and a fashion designer, with music written by Charli XCX and Jack Antonoff. The Carpenter’s Son is slated for release this fall.
