Rent The Surfer (2024)

Riding the Existential Riptide - The Surfer review by griggs

Nicolas Cage continues his eccentric renaissance with The Surfer, a sun-scorched character study set on the jagged edge of Australia's coastline. Following in the footsteps of Mandy and Longlegs, Cage once again dives headfirst into the deep end—this time emerging with a performance that's both intense and oddly meditative. It's not flawless, but it's certainly never dull.

The film explores a man in crisis, and while its plotting occasionally dips into the murky waters of half-baked subplots and loose ends, there's still something captivating in its sun-drenched drift. What could have been a straightforward descent into midlife madness becomes a hazy fever dream—disjointed, yes, but occasionally electric.

Unsurprisingly, Cage is magnetic. Even when the material wobbles, his presence steadies the board. His performance is more subdued than expected, but it fits the film's existential funk. The supporting cast fares less well, with some chemistry-free scenes that stop the emotional tide in its tracks.

The Australian setting, while perhaps financially motivated, lends a strange, dreamy dislocation that, whether intentional or not, adds to the film's fractured identity. It's a story about a man adrift, and the scenery plays its part.

Director Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium) doesn't always stick the landing. The pacing meanders, and some moments feel padded rather than profound. But there's a consistent visual elegance, and a few surreal flourishes that suggest a stronger film flickering beneath the surface.

Ultimately, The Surfer is a future cult midnight-movie with enough salt and sting to merit attention. Fans of Cage's more adventurous work will find a lot to chew on. It's not the wave he's going to ride to another Oscar nod—but it's one worth watching.

Nonsensical - The Surfer review by KB

I didn't particularly enjoy this film .It wasn't very uplifting and a bit daft & unsettling. It must have been fairly cheap to film as it all set in one car park and the beach next to it .Nicolas Cage is o.k in it though.

Despite a committed & restrained Cage, this one-location thriller is boring and predictable - The Surfer review by Timmy B

The "one-location" film is a genre which, when done correctly, brings stunning results & iconic stories whilst keeping budgets to an absolute minimum. It is in many ways the touchstone of serious talent. One of the most obvious/famous examples is Reservoir Dogs which, aside from a few establishing scenes, takes place inside a disused warehouse; but a more recent example such as Locke also got massive plaudits. However, in order to pull off this type of story, you need to have an incredibly tight and engrossing script, as well as excellent acting & set pieces. And unfortunately, The Surfer is a film which absolutely tries it's best within the confines of this format, but very quickly starts to become clichéd and monotonous.

The Surfer (his name is never given,) is a moderately wealthy investment banker who returns to his childhood home of Luna Bay in Australia. He is absolutely determined to secure the house he grew up in overlooking the beach, getting himself into serious debt to achieve this. However, his presence, as well as that of his son & other tourists, is met with increasing hostility and threats from the locals. However The Surfer refuses to be intimidated or give up, forcing a battle of wills against the locals, led by the charismatic Scally.

The biggest issue I had with this film was quite simply how clichéd & predictable it was, pretty much from the opening 5 minutes onwards. We see The Surfer being threatened, everyone from the neighbourhood acting exactly the same way. Then his life starts to fall to pieces, stuff gets stolen from him, he confronts the antagonist ect ect. I started to get a mental checklist in my head, wondering when each of the plot points was going to get hit. And it just became really quite trite.

The film also attempts to use present-day influences to make it feel current, the most blatant of which is to make Scally an Andrew Tate-like monstrosity, producing endless social media reels/vox-pops about masculinity. This has been done repeatedly, by many different types of media, and it just prompted an eye-roll, a resigned sigh and a wish that the writer/director had actually attempted to do something original.

The only real plus point, and hence why this film gets 2 stars and not 1, is that Cage is weirdly watchable for the length of time that I played it before getting bored. There is something admirable about his almost unflappable protagonist as more and more unpleasant stuff happens to him. And even though it wasn't enough to sustain me all the way through, it did make an impression on me.