The Surfer

That's the same headline I used for Longlegs. I continue to root for Cage and his resurgence over the past few years. I'm glad he's getting roles in theatrical movies. And I will still watch basically anything he's in.

The Surfer is a generally well-made movie and a stark contrast to the straight-to-streaming garbage he was busting out for a while. It has a simple premise that continues to evolve, with a decent amount of intrigue.

Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of this movie. It's a little too artistic and metaphorical for my liking. And I left the cinema a bit unsatisfied.

At least I had the pleasure of witnessing another memorable Cage performance.

(1 viewing, early screening Mystery Movie Monday 4/21/2025)

Because of the trailer I expected an almost Liam Neeson style thriller of bad guys at the beach terrorizing a father and son as they bond over surfing.

This is a very different film than that.

This film is surreal, psychological, introspective, and a little bit funny. You know as much of the plot as you need to, and other reviews cover the details, but I'm here to tell you to not expect a typical action or thriller.

Above all, the cinematography shines. More than the plot, the experience of seeing and hearing this movie is so compelling that I recommend seeing this in theaters. Absolutely a well made film, technically speaking.

It does not hold your hand as you're left stranded on the beach with a delirious Nic Cage. I asked a lot of questions as events unfolded, feeling as sunbaked and dehydrated as an American in the Australian sun, but I enjoyed every second of it!

Saw this Friday night with my wife, and it has since been marinating in the back of my mind. I generally view this to be the mark of a good film. When I find myself several days later still pondering the story, the performances, the cinematography, and the overall message of what I watched it is inarguable that the finished movie turned out to be greater than the sum of its parts.

Come for Nick Cage (if you're a fan) but don't be disappointed by his more subdued turn. This is not the fully unhinged Nick we saw turned loose in Mandy, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, or Wild at Heart. This is a more nuanced descent into his patented insanity. It's a 30 year old scotch that will lingers on your palate instead of a tart and briny ale that is all but forgotten by the time you set the bottle down. At various times you'll find yourself asking what's real and what may be hallucination as his character suffers to prove his worthiness.

And that gorgeous slice of coast is a character in its own right as the coveted azure blue waves languidly rolling in to the pristine locals only beach under the brutal and unrelenting Australian sun that turns everything into a hazy mirage. Just steps off the beach waits the real world that the group viciously keeps at bay, dead rats, used crack pipes and condoms, the detritus and garbage swept clean of their little protected turf but there all along. Cage and 'the bum' are the human trash that Julian McMahon's alpha male guru cult leader cannot allow to threaten this little paradise.

You may wonder in the final moments what was real and what was imagined, and find yourself wondering what interpretation was intended for the viewer. Was Cage the bum all along? How much of what Nick's unnamed Surfer experienced was literal, and how much was the feverish working of a broken man's mind grasping unsuccessfully at the past? Director Lorcan Finnegan asks of you: what would you suffer to share your greatest joy and family history with your son, and what would you suffer if your son was lost to you?

Being married to an Australian surfer in his late sixties we found this movie pathetic. The script, the culture, the acting. There was nothing good to say about this movie except Nicholas Chae managed to see most Australia native animals. A thing that many Australians would never see.

My husband grew up surfing through the 60s and 70s and still surfs today. It is sad to see this movie represent the Australian culture this way. It may be what happens in America. Yes there was localism, bullies and drugs, but never to this extreme. To make it look like a cult initiation is so far from anything I have ever experienced.

An hour and a half of our lives we will never get back.

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.😄