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Definite Sense Of Disorientation — The Surfer (London Film Festival 2024)

Nicolas Cage in The Surfer

Image: © BFI

Though The Surfer is quite rightly a psychological thriller, there are elements of horror that creep in and feel all too like well-trodden tropes that are used time and time again in other films of the same genre. After the event, The Surfer seems oddly placed at Cannes, where it screened earlier this year.

When a surfer (), hoping to buy a house in the desired location, Luna Bay, has an altercation with a group of aggressive locals, his situation begins to deteriorate rapidly.

Shot predominantly in a car park next to a beach, The Surfer is oddly claustrophobic for being filmed outside, save the moments and scenes set in the Surfer's car. The subplot of a missing teenager, presumed murdered by the hostile surfer gang, takes a back seat almost as soon as it's brought up. The film mainly consists of the torture the Surfer endures before concluding in a far more fascinating final act. There is an allusion that there is more going on than what we are shown, but the mystery is never fully formed or played out.

Having Cage up the ‘crazy' and be predominantly on screen for the majority of the run time does not automatically make a film entertaining. Cage does indeed provide something extra and in anyone else's hands this role would have completely sunk the film. Cage really does do the best he can with the little he has to work with, but it's blatantly obvious that he is the only selling point, which is a shame as there is a deeper, more complex and compelling story that could have been explored.

The third act of the film is really where the story comes to a head and starts to get more interesting. With the Surfer on the beach confronting the Bay Boys, truths are revealed and there is a shift in tone that feels refreshing after having been stuck in the same car park for a near stifling 90 minutes. But unfortunately, this third act is short, with too quick resolutions being made to make the story have a satisfying end. If there had been less time establishing the hazing and torture of The Surfer, there would have been room to explore the other characters that live in the bay. Making it feel less like a one-act play of man slowing and forcibly descending into bizarre despair.

Interestingly, one of the only characters to be given a name (on screen) is the main antagonist suggesting that Scally, played with full menace by Julian McMahon, is really the true protagonist of the story. Delving any deeper into the hidden meanings and subplot in the film will make you question every action and every creative choice — to director Lorcan Finnegan's credit.

If there is one thing you take away from this film, except for those pitch-perfect moments you'd expect from Nicolas Cage, in particular seeing him attempt to ram a dead rat down of his torturers' throats, is there is a definite sense of disorientation created and an entertaining horrific experience at the core. But there is still a feeling of an opportunity missed.

The Surfer screened at and will release in the UK in 2025.