The Carpenter’s Son ending explained: Did Satan die?

The Carpenter’s Son is a 2025 religious horror movie directed by Lotfy Nathan. Combining the elements of theological myth and psychological terror, this film imagines the life of Jesus Christ, with myth, faith, and fear framing it. Noah Jupe, Nicolas Cage, and FKA Twigs star as The Boy, The Carpenter, and The Mother, respectively, and the movie follows the spiritual and emotional struggles that ultimately lead to the transfiguration of a young divine figure.

The story is based on the second-century Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and it portrays Jesus' early miracles as interventions that confuse the viewer between salvation and destruction.

The movie went on a world tour with its first screening in Argentina on October 30, 2025, and later it had a theatrical release in the U.S. on November 14, 2025.

At the end of The Carpenter’s Son, Satan does not die; the Boy spares her in the final confrontation, defeating her through mercy rather than killing her.

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What happens in The Carpenter’s Son?

The Carpenter’s Son, set in Roman Egypt, tells the story of a family on the run after news of their child’s wondrous powers spreads. The Boy, Noah Jupe, does little acts of healing and brings back to life, which scares the locals and makes the soldiers of Rome interested.

The Carpenter (Nicolas Cage), the foster father of the boy, attempts to stop these powers by prayers and rites, but The Mother (FKA Twigs) finds it hard to take her son’s side and at the same time becomes increasingly frightened of what her son might turn into.

The plot goes even darker when The Stranger arrives, a character played by Isla Johnston, who at first looks like a refugee with a burnt face and asks for lodging. Underneath her friendly face, however, she has a plan.

The Stranger gets The Boy’s confidence, sharing the sufferings and losses that they have in common, thus deceiving him. She gives him a wooden snake she carved that later becomes the symbol of temptation in his dreams, where he sees it whispering doubts about his father’s faith and his heavenly mission.

After the influence of The Stranger, The Boy starts to gamble with his gifts. What was supposed to be a prayer for the healing of a sick neighbor becomes the cause of a house fire, and later, in a fit of anger, he unintentionally kills a bully during a village fight.

The reaction of The Carpenter is one of hopelessness, he goes for the desperate measure of turning to the works of the past for salvation and marking with protective carvings as well as fasting in order to be able to drive off evil from their home. The Mother, on the contrary, experiences prophetic visions warning her of the coming judgment.

The Stranger convinces The Boy to the point where he actually thinks about doing it when she says he must not shy away from embracing his powers. The Boy’s struggle gets even harder as he sees the disasters caused by his deeds.

As the paranoia grows in the town, The Carpenter is so furious that he demands that The Boy renounce his demonic power. After feeling that he has been deserted by his parents and plagued by guilt, The Boy seeks refuge in a cave, the same cave where he first met The Stranger, to have the last confrontation with her. ‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌

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Did‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌ the Boy kill Satan in The Carpenter’s Son?

The Carpenter’s Son (Image Via Magnolia Pictures)

When The Stranger unveils that she is the one who is cast from heaven, Satan, in the climax of The Carpenter’s Son, she tries to seduce The Boy by the dream of power, by telling him that he would rule over people if he made use of her.

Their fight turns physical, The Stranger hitting him and getting what looks like holy blood from the incision. The Boy reacts quickly and forcibly by stirring havoc, in anger and pain, which makes the ground shake and frightens the people who are standing far off watching.

However, when The Stranger is at his mercy, The Boy refuses to kill her. His doubt is the turning point of the theme of the film. He lets go of the idea of retribution and embraces mercy, passing from fearful child to emblem of forgiveness through this one gesture. It is this denial of solidarity with death that sends The Stranger fleeing in the tempest.

The Carpenter’s Son ends by leaving the fate of Satan undefined on purpose. After the confrontation, the evil one goes off in a blaze of light; the film insinuates that her triumph is of the spirit rather than the flesh.

The Boy’s act of sparing her life turns out to be the real triumph; the only difference between him and the other characters who seek retribution is that he shows compassion.

The story closes with The Boy coming back to his family, altered and matured. His father understands and acknowledges it by bowing to him.

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The Carpenter’s Son was released in theatres on November 14, 2025.

Edited by Sakshi Singh