Parents' Guide to Arcadian

Its hide-and-survive scenario is hardly new, but this creature-by-night movie checks off the right boxes with its sympathetic characters and incredible, ever evolving monsters. Benjamin Brewer makes his solo directing debut with Arcadian (he previously made The Trust with his brother, Alex), and the result is an effective, low-budget take on stories like I Am Legend and A Quiet Place. It is, admittedly, a great idea, relying on just a few sets and characters. Paul has raised his sons in a no-nonsense way, getting down to basics. ("Are we not men?" he asks at dinner, stabbing his knife into the table, prompting the boys to do the same.) Their lifestyle is juxtaposed against that of the wealthier Rose family, who raise sheep and live in a much bigger house, guarded by a sentry. Charlotte even has a bedroom with toys in it. ("All we had to play with were rocks and sticks and bugs," says Thomas.) And, in relating to one another, the humans have little experience to draw from; the movie builds fascinating tension from this energy.

But it's the monsters that make it work. At first we only hear them. Then they seem ... ordinary. But they keep evolving, shooting out extra appendages or external mouths full of teeth. The most terrifying effect is the high-speed jackhammer chattering of their teeth, practically causing earthquakes, before they attack. And their method of travel is better seen than described. All in all, while less elaborate than its influences have been, Arcadian is a must-see for monster fans and proof that it's always possible to make an old story new again.