Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Finn Little

Written By: Thomas Martin

Directed By: Lorcan Finnegan

Release Year: 2025

Audio Description Provided By: Deluxe

Written By:

Narrated By: William Michael Redman

What is it?: Simplistically, a man (Cage) is at a beach in Australia with his son (Little), and would like to go surfing, but a gang of locals refuse to let him surf. So it becomes one mans quest to surf… even if it kills him.

What Works: All the acting is great. Cage is finally used in a film that requires his talents, instead of some basic crap like Gunslingers or The Retirement Plan. This is a descent into madness psychological thriller, and Cage lives for that. It can’t be his best performance, but it can remind us of why we love him. The direction is so bizarre, but I love it. The score is unique, and very off kilter for what you’d expect. It was very dreamlike. And, of course, I loved seeing Julian McMahon in a role of substance considering his recent passing.

Honestly, I’m not sure what I just experienced, or if it’s good, or bad, or brilliant. I’m willing to make the argument that parts of it are clearly great, and I was captivated not just by those elements, but by the sheer insanity of this film. Truly, one of the most unique and interesting films of the year, even if I still am not sure what it all means. I know, as critics, we should strive to act like we know everything, but we don’t. This could be a circle of life type thing, or just a showcase for something that already happened. I don’t know, and I don’t want to spoil it.

What Doesn’t Work: Almost lost me. there’s a scene where Cage goes into a disgusting public bathroom, and for reasons unknown to mankind, he takes his shoes off and uses the facilities with no shoes. It felt like a cheap way to get him to lose his shoes, but it also made no sense. A man dressed in a suit, first of all would own socks, but also wouldn’t just walk around a bathroom that maybe gets spot cleaned once a year.

The Audio Description: Considering Cage’s decline as the film progresses, I thought the description did a nice job. Plus, if the film is driving him crazy, we should also be. Redman delivers a tense, excellent narration for this. It’s a weird film, almost easy to describe in terms of the visuals, but then again not. weird shit happens, like with a rat, or some feces, and really gross water. The film isn’t paradise.

Why You Might Like it: It’s a film that has A24 vibes and/or Neon vibes,yet neither are distributing. it feels like a film we could easily still be talking about 20 years from now and debating what it all meant, or the nuances of the direction. Why You Might Not Like it: It is very unique. So, if you prefer mainstream studio movies, this is not that. This is not meant for all audiences, as some people like broadly accessible films, and movies like this just turn them off.

Final Thoughts: As with most things Nicolas Cage does, The Surfer is a film where you come for Cage, but you stay for the conversation after when everyone tries to figure out what they just saw.

Fresh: 6.9/10