On top of its source material, much of the controversy that surrounds The Carpenter's Son comes from its depiction of a flawed Jesus. "Some sects, like Catholicism, believe Christ was divine and had no weaknesses, that his only real weakness was his body." But the Jesus in Nathan's movie is human and imperfect. He experiences feelings of doubt, frustration, and even anger as he tries to understand his own abilities and the world around him. "I find that the sacrifice Jesus made would be even more compelling if he also suffered doubt," adds Nathan. The director also believes the fact that the film has been billed as a horror has had a big impact, as countless comments on social media have expressed repulsion at that choice. "The genre depiction is maybe a bit threatening," Nathan concedes. But he maintains that horror is merely one tool used in the storytelling. "I couldn't take on this story as a pure horror movie," he says. "I'd have felt that it was irresponsible.
The Carpenter's Son has been the subject of a review bombing campaign both on Google and IMDb, and the trailers have been flooded with angry comments calling it blasphemous and hateful, as well as demands that the movie be banned. Nathan also received his first death threat leading up to the movie's release. "I find it kind of unfortunate that now you've got people in the U.S., of Christian faith, in 2025, who would react with such a fierce censorship mentality. That said, there's that quote I'm a firm believer of: "'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.'"
In the face of backlash, Nathan doesn't regret making The Carpenter's Son. "There are a lot of very sanitized and conventional approaches to Christianity and to religious films. I was trying to do something that a bit different, and that to me is exciting and worthwhile," says Nathan.
Despite everything, Nathan believes people who actually end up seeing the film might see things very differently. "Fundamentally, there are sects of Christianity that don't agree with the idea that Jesus could have been human in the ways that he's presented in the film," he says. "But it's not as evil as people are assuming. It doesn't go anywhere near where the Infancy Gospel goes."