Content warning: mild gorePaul (Nicolas Cage) survived the apocalypse and managed to get his infant twins to their teens. They live in a farmhouse and abide strictly by rules about lockdown, making sure the house is securely fashioned by dusk. It works, until Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) falls for the girl next door (Sadie Soverall) and begins to push the boundaries in an effort to spend every waking minute with her. Meanwhile, Joseph (Jaeden Martell) believes there is a pattern to the nightly attacks and that the monsters might be smarter than previously realized.
This isn't bad for creature design, although when you finally see the whole thing it's a little goofy. It reminded me of the descriptions of boogeymen in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. There is more shaky cam than I would like, but it's not constant at least. Performances were good. Cage is damn near demure and as the movie focuses on the sons, he kind of fades to the background. Martell (née Lieberher) and Jenkins are both seasoned pros, despite their tender years and I look forward to following their careers with interest.
Arcadian is basically a better version of A Quiet Place and a much better allegory for fatherhood. It's currently streaming on Shudder.
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