Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Lotfy Nathan, ‘The Carpenter’s Son’ follows a carpenter, who, along with his wife and son, hides a supernatural secret in the heart of Roman Egypt. His son, known as The Boy in the narrative, appears to possess magical powers, but whether they are of a divine or demonic nature remains a point of confusion for not only The Carpenter but also the many villages he finds temporary shelter in. As word about The Boy’s miraculous abilities spread, people reacted with equal parts fear and awe, triggering a spiritual war. To that end, this supernatural horror movie, which is a reimagining of the apocryphal text known as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, charts a young boy’s journey of self-discovery, interspersed with his father’s crisis of faith, as numerous obstacles, supernatural or otherwise, block the family’s way. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Carpenter’s Son Plot Synopsis
‘The Carpenter’s Son’ begins with the birth of The Boy, following which neither The Carpenter nor The Mother has a moment’s rest, as Herod’s army storms the entire village to kill every newborn child. Turns out, The Boy is a part of a grander messianic prophecy, which The Carpenter learnt of in an omen from God. While The Carpenter’s family manages to slip past the soldiers’ gaze, life only becomes difficult over the years, as they are cast out of village after village. The reason appears to be The Boy’s supernatural abilities, which often manifest in the most unpredictable of ways. When The Carpenter finds a job somewhere in Egypt, he chooses to settle down in that area, next to the family of a girl named Lilith, who has a speech impairment. As The Boy tries to grow closer to her, he is tormented by surreal dreams about death and reincarnation, which often lead to episodes of sleepwalking.
While receiving his education in the village, The Boy encounters an enigmatic child, referred to as The Stranger, who bears strange scars on her body. She appears to go against the grain just like him, and brings to the teen’s attention a person with leprosy. Their game of almost touching the person’s body takes a grim turn when the girl pushes The Boy straight into the person’s arms. However, instead of contracting leprosy himself, The Boy wakes up one night to learn that the person has miraculously been cured of the disease. Worse comes to the village when Lilith is captured by a mysterious figure in the middle of the night, and later shows signs of demonic possession. While she and her mother are chained and isolated, like several other people with diseases, The Boy forms an unlikely bond with The Stranger, pondering the nature of human suffering. When The Stranger reveals that The Carpenter is not the teen’s real father, the latter rushes back home, desperate for answers.
Instead of being told the truth, however, The Boy is punished by The Carpenter, who struggles to keep his belief in the prophecy alive. This prompts his son to rebel and use his powers in public. To begin with, he heals Lilith by pulling a supernatural snake out of her body, in turn granting her the ability to speak. However, this act is seen by a number of people, and he is soon labeled a demonic presence. As the town begins hunting down The Boy and his family, both The Carpenter and The Mother have to run for their lives. In the process, The Carpenter is bitten by a snake, with venom potent enough to potentially kill him within a few moments. However, his son returns to the scene at that moment, demanding to know who his real father is. The Carpenter hesitantly reveals that The Boy is the son of God, Yahweh, and with that, the teen heals his wound instantly. With too many questions still left unanswered, he then searches for the one person who might help him out, The Stranger.
The Carpenter’s Son Ending: Who is The Stranger? How Does The Boy Defeat Her?
‘The Carpenter’s Son’ ends by revealing The Stranger to be none other than Satan, who has been spinning an elaborate web from the start to lure The Boy into joining him. In the climactic sequence, The Boy, after learning of his true parentage, seeks out The Stranger at the land of the sick, only to find every person there killed and mutilated. The Stranger, however, is not only alive but seems to relish the sight, indicating that she is the one who orchestrated this massacre. Upon meeting, The Stranger claims that she can take The Boy to his real father, but that soon turns out to be a trap. At the edge of a lake, The Strangr unveils her true plan, which has been to corrupt The Boy’s mind and turn his supernatural abilities into weapons of malice. She recalls the story of her origins, asserting that she once belonged to the same realm as his father, seemingly confirming herself to be Satan in disguise, as he is traditionally known to have been cast out of heaven.
Satan continues to warp The Boy’s mind by claiming that the reason he was cast out was because of his father’s need for control. However, this detail reveals another layer within the story, about the various tools the devil employs in the story to weaken The Boy’s connection with his foster father, The Carpenter. In earlier conversations, Satan, as The Stranger, claims that The Carpenter is scared of not being able to control his own son, and thus lashes out in abusive ways. Given that Satan’s interpretation of the father-son dynamic overlaps with how he feels about being banished from heaven, it is possible that he is merely extrapolating his own desire for vengeance and feeding it into The Boy’s mind. This connection becomes even more apparent when the beast tries to convince The Boy to cut his ties to his family and ordinary people, describing them as beings not deserving of his attention. However, The Boy’s resistance to this temptation only infuriates Satan, prompting him to go all out.
The beast’s real goal, as it turns out, is not to turn The Boy into an ally, but to torment him in order to challenge and taunt God. In a chilling sequence, Satan forces The Boy to say his name out loud, in a move that is seemingly meant to contrast the earlier mention of Yahweh in the movie. Satan’s attempt at concentrating negative energy, however, fails when The Carpenter arrives on the scene, determined to rescue his son one way or another. Here, we see the devil transform into the same entity that we saw at the start of the movie, which is a form that appears to be unique to The Carpenter’s perspective. The implication here is that Satan’s physical identity shifts according to who is watching him, and that makes The Boy perceiving him as a sad child all the more potent. While The Carpenter manages to distract Satan from The Boy, the man is still knocked unconscious by a single hit, allowing the beast to continue his rampage.
Why Does The Boy Spare Satan’s Life?
Seeing The Carpenter on the ground, The Boy rushes to his defense, but that only serves to infuriate Satan all the more. In a desperate bid to prove his point, he uses his monstrous form to terrify The Carpenter, claiming to The Boy that fear is the most effective way to control the world as one sees fit. However, this display only proves the hollowness of Satan’s abilities, as his entire framework depends on ruling by fear, instead of instilling any conviction amongst others. To that end, the teen remains resolute in his moral leaning, only to push Satan to his brink. Furious, the beast impales The Carpenter with a sharp stick before dragging The Boy back to the lake. This entire time, Satan calls out to his father in heaven, demanding that he come down to earth, even if it is to save The Boy. When that doesn’t happen, the devil contorts the situation to fit his narrative by claiming that God has abandoned everyone, including The Boy, before burying his face underwater.
As Satan tries to drown The Boy to death, we see the latter miraculously push back and overpower the beast at last. However, just before he can land a finishing blow, he is stopped by The Carpenter, who urges him not to resort to violence, as that would mean aligning with the devil’s ideology. Hearing this, The Boy returns to Satan, this time hugging him instead. This moment serves as a culmination of all the moral values that the teen has learnt from life, and especially from his parents. The fact that he has the ability to heal people by touching them naturally puts him on a path of goodness, as opposed to Satan, who appears to have the exact opposite ability, disintegrating people by touching them.
In the end, The Boy’s embrace serves as his desire to heal even the darkest corners of the devil’s mind. Still, Satan does not relent, and instead predicts that The Boy will die thanklessly for the sake of the many, further cementing that The Boy is meant to represent Jesus. Despite learning of this fate, which contextualizes the vivid dreams that he has been seeing thus far, The Boy does not alter his ways, further showing how his kindness is not a response to his external circumstances, but a proof of his innate desire to help those in need.
Is the Carpenter Dead? What Happens to The Mother?
The Carpenter succumbs to his wounds in the final moments of ‘The Carpenter’s Son,’ with a halo forming around his head to indicate that he is now in heaven. Although his son has the ability to heal wounds, having healed a snake bite on The Carpenter’s foot not so long ago, this time the patriarch chooses to let nature run its course. As he breathes his last, The Carpenter is met with a ray of sunshine that pierces the sky and purges it of all darkness. From the very start of the movie, the man has been yearning for another glimpse of God and his message, which is symbolized by the bright rays of the sun. Thus, the final vision suggests that The Carpenter has fulfilled his duty. To that end, The Carpenter’s death also comes with a resolution to his crisis of faith, confirming to him that his foster child will go on to save the world.
While The Carpenter meets his death at the hands of Satan, The Mother fights a battle of her own with the demonic forces. At one point, her psyche appears to link up with her son’s, to the point that she also feels any damage inflicted upon him by Satan. The injuries also take a physical form, manifesting as wounds at every point where the devil makes contact with The Boy. However, it is likely this mental link that gives the teen the push he needs to fight the darkness. When Satan is defeated and light returns to the sky, the Mother’s reaction mirrors that of her husband, signaling that her faith has been reaffirmed. From the very start, she is the only character to stand side by side with The Boy in his supernatural journey, and it is fitting for them to survive the event together.
Does The Boy Accept His Destiny? Where Does he go?
In the final scene of ‘The Carpenter’s Son,’ The Boy realizes the true purpose of his supernaturally bestowed abilities and takes charge of his own life. Leaving Satan behind, he returns to his mother, blood-soaked. While the two don’t share a single word, their powerful glances are enough to communicate a shift in their dynamic. At the very start of the movie, we see the mother-son duo walk down a similar hill, carefully balancing through the rocks and cracks together. By contrast, the final scene features The Boy taking the lead, with The Mother walking the same path in complete confidence. On a symbolic level, the scene reflects his future as a messianic figure who will go on to carve a new path for humanity, with his mother as the first person to walk it.
Although The Boy already knows his ultimate fate, as well as how his mother would react to it, his decision to walk on the difficult path is exactly what distinguishes him from ordinary humans. However, this also means that his journey is predetermined to an extent, and the real test was never about stepping into the journey but accepting it as his true purpose in life. The same holds true for his mother, who must move forward knowing that her son will have to sacrifice his life for the greater good of humanity. In a way, The Carpenter’s death serves as the final piece in the puzzle, and her determined look in the end confirms that she is as prepared as The Boy for the perilous journey that lies ahead.
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