This review was originally published on March 13, 2025, as a part of our SXSW Film & TV Festival coverage.

Sometimes a film will set the stage for what comes next and we learn to anticipate that predictability, which can be good or bad depending on how well the story is executed. Other times, the buildup goes to an unexpected place that ties the film’s themes together. The Surfer falls into the latter category. It’s a weird film that can take itself too seriously at times and be freely unhinged at others. Yet regardless of how I felt about the story at any given moment — confusion, unease, anger at the surfer bullies — I also couldn’t tear my eyes away.

That’s the benefit to Lorcan Finnegan’s film; just like the surfers, it allows to ride the wave of its story before we find we’re in too deep and awaiting that final big wave to come crashing over us. Working from a script by Thomas Martin, Finnegan brings together a story about how far one man is willing to go to get what he believes is rightfully his, and the distortion of one’s identity in the face of hardship and cruelty.

Nicolas Cage plays the titular character, whose name is never revealed, which only adds to the erasure of who he is as the events of the film wear and tear him down, and he gives a layered performance that is perhaps better than what the script offers him in of character depth. The film begins with the Surfer arriving to the beach with his son (Finn Little), who seems to want to be anywhere but there with his father. Cage is insistent; if his son could just surf the waves he did when he was a kid, then he’d understand.

When a group of cruel surfers, led by Scally (Julian McMahon), tell him that the beach is open to locals only, the Surfer explains that he used to live here. That doesn’t mean anything to them and the frustrating characters spend the majority of the film belittling the Surfer, stealing his car, pushing him around and making him feel like he doesn’t — and will never — belong there.

Nicolas Cage's Performance Keeps The Surfer From Going Under

This is where Cage shines, though, as his character becomes more desperate, the actor’s performance takes on an edge. He devolves into a pitiful man but one we continue sympathizing with, even while I questioned how far he would actually go to get to the beach. How long could someone be humiliated before calling it quits and leaving like the other surfers wanted? Cage’s character and his story underscore how beating someone down may take away his economic status and confidence, but it doesn’t deteriorate his core self and desires.

As the Surfer is gaslit and seems to be driven toward the brink of madness, we’re along for the ride...

The Surfer’s one-location setting starts to feel claustrophobic after a while. Cage moves from his car to the snack stand to the parking lot and bathroom over and over again like he’s stuck in a dazed time loop. The ocean is so close for him to get to, yet so far out of reach. Though Scally and the other surfers prevent him from getting what he wants, Cage’s character also stands in his own way. He can be his own worst enemy, and his privilege gets the best of him — until it doesn’t.

One of the best things about the film is how it warps everything. Things begin to blur together as the Surfer suffers from dehydration and we’re shown images that make it unclear whether it’s something that’s happening in the past, present, or future. That becomes clear at the end, but the fact that we question what we’re seeing throughout the film keeps us locked in and focused on what’s happening.

As the Surfer is gaslit and seems to be driven toward the brink of madness, we’re along for the ride as we contemplate the reasons for why he’d go to such lengths — never leaving the beach and attempting to buy his childhood home no matter how impossible it’s looking — to hold onto an idyllic dream that no longer suits him.

The Surfer is a slow-burn film that requires a lot of patience. Cage does his best with limited material, as his character doesn’t have much depth beyond wanting something and aiming to get it. We get inklings as to why he wants to buy his childhood home, but the distortion of time makes it nearly impossible to fully grasp the full extent. The film itself seems uninterested in exploring that and is hyperfocused on the events at the beach. This intensifies the situation but leaves other important aspects of the film to some awkward exposition.

And yet, The Surfer is an addictive watch. We can’t help but root for Cage to get down to that beach and when he finally does, it’s glorious. He and Julian McMahon are excellent, with the latter giving a balanced performance that sits somewhere between vicious and brazen. Scally and the Surfer’s interactions center the film, even as it begins to drag. The twist ending brings everything back and makes everything that came before well worth it.

The Surfer screened at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival and is now playing in theaters.