The Surfer

Greetings again from the darkness. There are a few actors who regularly take on roles that leave us hoping they are nothing like those characters in real life. Willem Dafoe comes to mind, but the president of that club would be Nicolas Cage. Over the last 18 years or so, no actor has more often regaled us with emotional and mental unraveling on screen. Keep in mind it's been thirty years since he won his Oscar for LEAVING LAS VEGAS.

This time, it's the second feature film from Lorcan Finnegan (VIVARIUM, 2018) that finds Cage's titular character on a downward spiral. The script comes from Thomas Martin, and opens with a father (Cage) driving along the Australian coastline, preaching surfer philosophy to his son (Finn Little, THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD, 2021), who's a bit miffed that he got dragged from school to hear the lecture. It turns out dad wants to spend the day surfing with his son so he can show him the house he's purchasing. It's the cliffside family home once owned by his grandfather.

It all sounds lovely until two things happen. The real estate deal is in jeopardy because Cage has been outbid, requiring him to raise an extra hundred grand fast. More dramatically, when the father and son hike down to the beach carrying their surfboards, they are accosted by locals who live by the mantra, "Don't live here. Don't surf here.". Cage explains that he used to live there, is buying a house there, and just wants to surf with his son. The group of 'Bay Boys' threatens to get physical, sending father and son back up the hill.

These bullies have created a 'localized' culture at Luna Bay through inspiration served up by their cult-like leader, Scotty "Scally" Callahan (Julian McMahon, "Nip/Tuck"), a former classmate of Cage's character. Now most reasonable folks would just pack up and leave, but this is a man on the edge. His divorce is pending, his relationship with his son is shaky, his boss is pressuring him to finish a project, and his dream real estate deal is crumbling. Cage is a frazzled middle-aged man, and we are about to witness things get much worse for him.

The patented Nic Cage downward spiral involves a local homeless man (Nicolas Cassim), a public restroom, a kiosk, and frequent run-ins with the 'gang' of local surfers. Even the local cop (Justin Rozniak) tries to encourage Cage to give it up and head out. However, the inner demons of a man who has worked hard for a specific goal that is now within grasp - or maybe just out of reach - begin to take over. This may seem like the beginning of a breakdown for Cage's character, but the truth is that it began long before.

Is this psychological, psychotic, or psychedelic? We are never quite sure, especially as the sun beats down on Cage and he has flashes of childhood trauma ... a precursor to where this is all headed. Are these nightmares or hallucinations? It plays out kind of slowly, but we do enjoy the stylish approach of director Finnegan and cinematographer Radek Ladczuk (THE BABADOOK, 2014), whose visuals juggle the blistering glare of the sun, sweat and stains on Cage, and the stunningly beautiful blue ocean. Additionally, it's Australia, so you know there will be a snake, as well as other critters like bugs, birds, a rat, a porcupine, and dogs. As Cage's material status possessions are stripped away (phone, watch, car, clothes), it is all accompanied by composer Francois Tetaz's music that can be described as hypnotic or ethereal. There is an ending that many might take issue with, but after so many times thinking "Just leave, dude", I was willing to take whatever happened. How long until a theater runs an entire festival of Nic Cage Midnight Movies?

Opens in theaters on May 2, 2025.

Watching Nicolas Cage spiral into madness has become something of a cinematic ritual-equal parts thrilling and unnerving.

In "The Surfer," directed by Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium, Nocebo), that descent reaches new, sun-scorched depths. Cage's performance is as unhinged as it is calculated, delivering the kind of mesmerizing chaos only he can pull off.

But the question lingers: is it entertainment, or is it a warning?

After his sinister turn in "Longlegs," Cage reemerges here as a man simply trying to surf-only to be swallowed by a surreal psychological vortex on a seemingly idyllic Australian beach.

His protagonist, a nameless Surfer, returns to the coast of his youth, hoping to reclaim something pure, maybe even sacred. Instead, he runs afoul of a bizarrely authoritarian group of beach bullies led by the menacing Scally (played with eerie charisma by Julian McMahon).

What follows is not just confrontation-it's ritualistic humiliation and mental disintegration.

Finnegan constructs a sadistic fever dream where the beach becomes a battleground for the soul.

The parking lot-a space so ordinary-mutates into a nightmarish cage. Days blur into one another as the Surfer is stripped of every material attachment: his car, his phone, his designer watch, even his surfboard.

Starving, dehydrated, dirtied, and alone, he's forced to reckon with what he needs versus what he wants.

At its core, "The Surfer" is a grotesque satire of community and masculinity, where the desire to belong becomes a gateway to destruction.

It's a violent allegory for modern identity crises-particularly male identity in an age where digital connection often replaces genuine human bonds. The film flirts with primal themes: dominance, submission, survival, and the illusion of control.

It's almost comically extreme at times, but the humor is bitter, absurd, and often laced with horror.

Finnegan's Australia is vast and unforgiving-a place where the sea offers both escape and punishment. The landscape itself seems to mock the protagonist, serving as a mirror to his fractured ego.

The beach, once a symbol of freedom and youth, becomes a metaphysical arena for transformation. Women are notably absent, or at best peripheral, making the film's world a testosterone-fueled echo chamber that both critiques and indulges in its themes.

"The Surfer"'s journey isn't just physical-it's spiritual. He devolves, then transforms.

The brutal initiation into Scally's tribal gang might represent a search for meaning, a surrender to something primal in an over-sanitized, disconnected world. "You must suffer to surf," he proclaims-a mantra that suggests transcendence through pain. But the price is steep, and the reward ambiguous.

By the film's end, "the Surfer" has been stripped bare-of status, ego, and self-deception. What remains is either a reborn man or a hollow shell.

In interviews, Finnegan has described the film as an exploration of "masculinity in crisis," emphasizing how men can be manipulated into degrading rituals in pursuit of validation and belonging.

"The Surfer" doesn't just chronicle ego death-it explores the seductive, often terrifying power of group identity and the primal longing to be part of something greater.

Visually striking and psychologically punishing, "The Surfer" isn't a movie for all or most tastes. It demands patience and interpretive effort from its audience, but it rewards those willing to ride its chaotic wave.

Finnegan delivers a nightmare worth enduring-one that sticks to the skin like sand and saltwater long after the credits roll.

This was the first film I caught this year as part of the London Film Festival at the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square. I've only ever been to this cinema previously to watch previous LFF films and I cannot remember enjoying a single one; the memory that sticks out to mind the most is the pain of watching Encounter with Riz Ahmed (REDACTED comment about members of the audience because it was too "mean"). Suffice to say, my expectations were low although admittedly through no fault of the film.

The film is about a father (played by Nic Cage) taking his son to surf at the same Australian beaches he used to in his childhood. However, he is prevented from doing so by a local gang of manly and sunburnt surfers who humiliate him in front of his son.

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed seeing someone suffer - on screen - this much. It must be a similar experience to sitting in the colosseum and seeing gladiators brutally harm each other, all for your entertainment. The amount of punishment, deprivation and gaslighting that Nic Cage's character suffered throughout the film is only matched by the sheer perseverance and desire he had to ride those sweet waves.

Despite the constant abuse being shown on screen, the film sustains a comedic and dreamy quality throughout. The soundtrack with its use of chimes and the camera with its play on focus helped elevate those scenes with a dehydrated Nic Cage to a place straddling between a delirious dream and a sweaty nightmare. Sometimes the film crosses into a point of hilarious ridiculousness; there is one scene where a dead rat comes out of someone's pocket and is used as a weapon.

This is one of those recent and great films with Nicolas Cage that do hit the mark. It's very funny, it sometimes feels like a comedy play due to its very small number of locations and the film making is interesting and competent, something that sometimes seems neglected with comedy films.

One last thing to note is that the film has a small role played well by Justin Rosniak who I've enjoyed recently in Australian shows like Mr Inbetween and Colin from Accounts. Apparently also, Wake in Fright was a big influence to Lorcan Finnegan in the making of this film, one that I'll have to check out soon.

The story unfolds with Cage arriving at a beach that holds great significance to him. However, when he's ridiculed and forbidden from surfing there with his son, it triggers a series of events that progressively detach from reality, leaving the audience to question even the reality we a witnessing.

One aspect I appreciate is the exploration of the sunken cost fallacy, the tendency to persist with an endeavor we've invested in, even if the current costs outweigh the benefits. Having recently faced a similar decision, I understand how challenging it is to step back and accept a loss.

Watching this in the GL Theatre with Cage and the rest of the crew was a very enjoyable experience.😄

My daughter took me to see this movie as an 02 freebie and we weren't sure what to expect. We still weren't really sure what we thought after we had seen it either but it wasn't good. I am an avid movie fan and thought the acting, cinematography and location were all superb. There is definitely an interesting idea of a story somewhere in here but it never really manages to emerge. The movie seems to drift between several different possible storylines and or outcomes. You keep hoping there will be a moment of revelation that explains it all, but that just doesn't really happen.

My advice, would be don't bother, there are better things to do with a couple of hours nearly, like cleaning an oven.