The Surfer

Somewhere between Gary Bond in Wake in Fright and Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer lays Nicolas Cage as the titular Surfer in the latest from Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan. The Irish/Australian co-production finds the always enjoyable Cage in one of his semi-toned-down states of eccentricity in this psychological thriller about a middle-aged guy with a lot to prove who returns to his beachside hometown in Australia intent on purchasing the house he grew up in. The house and the secluded beach it overlooks represent a lot for the divorced dad who spent decades making money in the US pursuing his dream of correcting past mistakes. But when he returns to the idyllic beach with his teenage son by his side, he discovers the warm, welcoming spot is now ruled by a gang of toxic masculinists who only allow locals to surf their waves. While he leaves the beach, the surfer refuses to retreat fully. He intends to buy his childhood home, surf his childhood beach, and fulfill his lifelong dream, no matter how imposing the obstacles to all these goals might be.

The movie, written by Thomas Martin, becomes more and more surreal as it goes along but never crosses over into full John Cheever metaphorical territory. It also doesn't cop out in the ways I feared it might as the last fifteen minutes or so approached. Still, the ending is not entirely satisfying. This is one of those Nick Cage pictures that uses his well-established screen persona to the fullest effect; I honestly can't imagine this playing as well as it does with any other actor in the lead. Yet it isn't one of those films where he disappears into a character. You always feel you're watching Nick Cage getting put through another hellish couple of days rather than a relatable guy on the brink of losing his sanity. On the flip side, the blokey bastards who try to beat Cage down start out seeming like the kind of thinly drawn antagonists that only exist in revenge pictures so that you can feel extra good about watching the hero blow them away in the last reel. However, these smiling, sunkissed, musclebound creeps develop into a far more layered and sinister threat as the story progresses. This is a movie that plays extra well in 2025. Finnegan and Martin's timing could not have been better.