‘The Surfer’ is Deeper Than You Might Think: A Review
Nicolas Cage loses his grip on reality in this wild and surprisingly deep psychological thriller.
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What is The Surfer About?
The Surfer is a sun-beaten psychological thriller about a man driven to extremes by territorial locals at a public beach.
Nicolas Cage plays a man whose name is never spoken, and who is credited only as the Surfer. In the beginning of the movie, the Surfer arrives at an Australian beach with plans to buy a house overseeing the water. He grew up in the area, and it’s been his dream for years to return and live in his childhood home near the beach he loves so much. But when he tries to take his son surfing, a gang of locals, the “Bay Boys,” aggressively tell the Surfer and his son that they aren’t welcome in Luna Bay. Over the next few days, tensions and aggressions escalate dramatically, and the Surfer’s mind starts to slip away as he desperately clings on to his dream of calling Luna Bay his home.
The Surfer Review
As I was watching The Surfer, there was a point early in the movie when I thought I was in store for Falling Down (1993) on a beach. Nicolas Cage’s Surfer is a man whose personal life is falling apart (or has already fallen apart, the coherence of time and reality gets murky). As more reveals happen, it seems more and more likely that he has no life to return to. He also endures an accumulation of annoyances that grow progressively worse. On top of all that, he’s pushed relentlessly by the almost comical aggression of the gang of locals claiming ownership of the beach. It really felt like the movie was going to be about the Surfer fighting back, but that’s not really the direction it takes. At least, not initially.
The Surfer does attempt to retaliate from time to time, but the main thrust of the story isn’t about physical fights. It’s about the mind of the Surfer. He is our unreliable narrator, and we take this wild journey through his subjective experience.
From early in the film, we get a sense that something isn’t quite right. The stylized visuals give a feeling that everything is off-kilter. Are the exaggerations simply meant to amplify the emotions of the story in a grindhouse, ozploitation kind of way, or is this the true reality of the Surfer’s life? Both, probably. The Surfer is a movie that is best taken at face value, but also as one huge metaphor. It’s like a dream or a nightmare. Everything is actually happening in this world, and everything has meaning, but your interpretation of what it all means will differ depending on your perspective.
Take, for instance, the fact that the Surfer never leaves the parking lot next to the beach other than to go down to the beach, or to occasionally venture into the area immediately surrounding the parking lot. It makes sense in the beginning that he never leaves, but the longer he stays, the longer it feels like he can’t go anywhere else. It’s like he’s in some kind of purgatory. As weird occurrences stack up, it forces the viewer to consider what is happening. Is the Surfer really who he says he is? Are we experiencing his delusions? Is he dead or dying and this is some mental or spiritual holding area? All good questions.
Adding to the unreality of the situation are the flashes of images that pop up periodically. I won’t say what the images depict because of spoilers, but they add more layers of uncertainty. Is the Surfer remembering the past? Are these omens of a possible future? Is he seeing himself from an omniscient yet skewed third-person point of view? Again. Good questions.
The best part of The Surfer is that not all of those questions are truly answered. The Surfer is ambiguous about what it all means and whether or not what we’re seeing is really what is going on. I’ve read some reviews that cling on to a specific revelation towards the end of the movie that they think puts everything together in a logical way, but my interpretation is different. The Surfer isn’t a puzzle to be solved with logic, it is an enigma meant to be pondered.
I equate The Surfer to a movie like Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! (2017). Not in terms of story or quality, but in terms of its use of dream logic to tell a metaphorical (or allegorical) story. The metaphors, allegories, and allusions mean more than the plot that supports them. Dreams sometimes have deep, powerful meanings, and sometimes they are odd for inexplicable reasons. Often, the powerful and the illogical go hand in hand.
The Surfer has too many coincidences and allusions to be just a vehicle to watch Nicolas Cage act “unhinged” as some people have said. Yes, Cage is great. As always. And sure, themes of toxic masculinity are obvious. But there’s a deeper meaning here. A heart. It’s a movie about idealistic dreams and crushing reality. It’s about family, failure, and refusing to let go. It’s about life and death, and it’s all represented by a surfer who tells us exactly what is going to happen in the first few minutes of the film. The Surfer is a wave of pure energy, and if you let it take you, it’s a wild ride.
The Surfer Rating and Recommendation
Star Rating: 4 out of 5
If this review sounds like the ramblings of a madman, I apologize. But in this moment I am the Surfer, obstinate in my belief that The Surfer is a movie that is absolutely worth your time. You might not get as much out of it as I did, but there’s always a chance.
The Surfer is in theaters beginning May 2nd, 2025.
Further Reading
- Until Dawn Completely Misses the Point of the Video Game it Adapts: A Review
- The Dead Thing Review: A Supernaturally Charged Psychological Thriller About Being Ghosted
- The Best Beach Horror Movies: Sand, Surf, and Scares
- Australian Horror Movies
- Sweltering Summer Horror Movies
- New/Upcoming Horror Movies
