The Surfer (2025) is a film that feels like a short stretched into a feature, with a promising core idea buried beneath layers of sand and sunstroke-induced rambling. Even Nicolas Cage’s commitment can’t keep this one afloat. A few memorable moments aside, it’s a forgettable entry in a filmography that’s become a little too reliant on weird for weird’s sake.
‘The Surfer’ Movie Review
The Surfer, directed by Lorcan Finnegan and starring Nicolas Cage, is another curious entry in Cage’s ever-expanding catalog of offbeat roles—and unfortunately, one that doesn’t do much to shake the sense that he’s been stuck in a rut. Premiering at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and only now reaching general audiences, The Surfer finds Cage fully committed to the strange and surreal, but the film itself struggles to justify its runtime or its ambitions.
Cage plays an unnamed American surfer returning to his childhood beach in Australia with hopes of buying back his old family home and reconnecting with his son. The trip quickly takes a bizarre turn when a territorial gang of local surfers, led by Julian McMahon’s Scally, humiliates him for being an outsider. The rule is clear: if you’re not from the area, you’re not welcome in the water. What follows is a slow descent into paranoia, madness, and sunbaked obsession as Cage’s character camps out near the beach, enduring harassment and psychological torment from the cult-like group.
For nearly an hour, The Surfer asks you to watch Cage spiral—mumbling, ranting, and reacting with increasing instability. And while Cage is as dedicated as ever to the role, the film gives him little to work with beyond repetition and frustration. There are flashes of intrigue and surreal tension, especially in the last act when the true motivations of the antagonists come into focus, but by then, the movie has already worn out its welcome. The pacing is sluggish, the character beats feel overextended, and viewers will likely feel several steps ahead of the plot long before the twists arrive.
The eventual reveal—that the gang’s bullying was a bizarre test of commitment, a gatekeeping ritual to assess if Cage’s character was “worthy” of surfing their waves—nudges the film into satirical territory. There’s a hint of a smarter movie buried under the sand here, one that critiques toxic masculinity and the absurdity of masculine initiation rites. But by the time these ideas emerge, it’s too late to re-engage.
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Nicolas Cage, as always, gives it his all. His full-throttle performance—somewhere between tragic and ridiculous—remains the main draw, and longtime Cage devotees may find enough oddball charm in his manic energy to make the journey worthwhile. But The Surfer falls squarely into the category of recent Cage misfires, more in line with Renfield or The Old Way than standout efforts like Pig or Dream Scenario. It’s not his worst, but it’s nowhere near his best.
Score: 5/10
The Surfer (2025)
- Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Nicholas Cassim, Finn Little
- Director: Lorcan Finnegan
- Genre: Drama, Thriller
- Runtime: 100 minutes
- Rated: R
- Release Date: May 2, 2025
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- Read More: The Surfer on Wikipedia and IMDb