Irish film-maker Lorcan Finnegan, renowned for his eerily captivating films like Vivarium and Nocebo, returns to thrill audiences with his latest film, The Surfer.
Nicolas Cage stars as an unnamed man whose dream turns into a nightmare against the stunning backdrop of an idyllic Australian beach
The film introduces us to a character who, after enduring a traumatic experience in his youth, emigrated from his birthplace in Australia to the U.S. Years later, he returned to Australia, eager to reconnect with his roots. He marries and starts a family, but something is missing.
The Man’s dream is to purchase the house where he spent his childhood years. It is a picturesque property perched on a hill with breathtaking views of the golden sands below. It has enough windows to make Dermot Bannon weep for joy.
However, this cherished dream proves evasive. The price tag is hefty. He has managed to gather most of the funds needed and has just enough to meet the asking price when someone else puts in a higher bid. The Man doesn’t care what he has to do to get the extra money; he needs this house.
He takes his teenage son back to the beach where he grew up. He wants him to understand the importance of owning the family home and experience the freedom he once had on that beach. However, the beach is not as he re it.
The sand is still golden, the waves are perfect for surfing, but they are met by a rowdy group of local surfers led by the intimidating Scally (Julian McMahon). These surfers make their hostility abundantly clear, aggressively shouting, “Don’t live here, don’t surf here,” newcomers are not welcome in their territory. This is as far from Home And Away as you can get. This is Deliverance in flip-flops and board shorts.
Despite his claims of being a local and sharing a bond with the land, The Man is met with more aggression, and they are forced to leave the beach and return to the nearby car park.
As tensions escalate between The Man and his son, his wife arrives and is furious over his decision to uproot their son from school for the day. The Man already feels foolish for being bullied by the baddie surfers in front of him, and now his wife is having a go at him. It is not his finest hour.
His wife takes their son away, leaving The Man isolated and dejected. At least the house is within arms’ reach, or so he thinks.
Hostilities intensify as the surfers rob him of his shoes. Before he can say sandcastle, they have taken his phone, watch, even his car, leaving him stranded in the parking lot. They have also taken his surfboard, which is an insult that is too far for any wave rider.
As the relentless sun beats down, deprived of water and shade, our main Man spirals into a state of psychological turmoil, descending into a madness that Cage uniquely captures with unparalleled intensity.
Will this unravelling drive him away from his dream home or ignite a fierce determination to reclaim it? Can he win over the surfers and prove he is worthy to surf there once again?
In The Surfer, Finnegan skilfully weaves a narrative reminiscent of a sun-drenched Twilight Zone. He bends time and perception through the manipulation of camera techniques. We see flashes of things that have gone before or have yet to happen, confusing us as The Man’s mind becomes altered.
Finnegan’s soundtrack, which channels 1960s surfer flicks, gives us a false sense of security before things begin to take a dark turn.
The result is a strangely haunting B-movie that will be loved by fans of Cage’s work and anyone drawn to the allure of the bizarre and surreal in cinema.
This film is not only a visual feast - the beach looks stunning - but also a thought-provoking exploration of identity, belonging, and the sometimes unwelcoming nature of home.
There is much to discuss regarding toxic masculinity, as Scally appears to have adopted a few lessons from Andrew Tate and others like him.
You can examine all the messaging, but don’t need to take it too seriously. You can interpret it differently and watch it as a slightly deranged, highly entertaining romp.
There is nothing quite as entertaining as watching Cage spiral - he truly is in a class of his own - and Finnegan is clearly a Cage fan because he knows just when to zoom in on his face and capture his tiny, demented moments and not just give us the big stuff. Mad fun.
