Nicolas Cage plays a father of two in the throes of a dystopian world in EW's exclusive first look at the trailer for post-apocalyptic thriller Arcadian.

A bit reminiscent of A Quiet Place, Arcadian takes place in a near future where normal life on Earth has been decimated. Cage portrays Paul, who, along with his sons Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) and Joseph (Jaeden Martell), inhabit a world where mysterious creatures emerge at night to unleash evil on the little population that remains. When Thomas doesn’t return home one day before sundown, Paul sets out to find him, resulting in what the synopsis calls a “nightmarish battle” for survival.

It’s unclear what caused the societal collapse, but the eerie trailer theorizes that the arrival of the creatures is climate related. “There are those who believe they came after the pollution people caused,” Cage’s Paul says in a voiceover, “and they’re here to cleanse the planet of the human race; so we’ll all become extinct.”

Remaining vigilant is key, Paul informs his sons at the dinner table. But, ah, young love — even in an apocalyptic world — can shroud one’s judgment. What begins with clips of one of the boys rendezvousing with a fellow female survivor (Sadie Soverall) in the green open fields soon devolves into the family being attacked by the mysterious monsters at their farmhouse during nightfall.

Patrick Redmond/RLJE

Arcadian reunites Cage with his The Trust director Benjamin Brewer. The thriller will world premiere at SXSW on March 11 and arrive in theaters April 12.

“What drew me to the project was the brothers at the center of the story and their close bond,” Brewer, who helmed The Trust with brother Alex, says in a director’s statement. “That's something I can relate to very deeply. I liked the idea that the coming-of-age story could be rendered in a sort of Mad Max apocalypse world, giving these recognizable tropes of growing up a dark fairytale hue, and I was also excited to have an opportunity to work with Nicolas Cage again.”

Cage’s recent credits include comedy films The Retirement Plan and Dream Scenario, as well as horror flick Renfield, where he played Dracula opposite Nicholas Hoult’s title character.

Watch the trailer for Arcadian above.

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