If you met Nicolas Cage on a beach and he was just trying to chill out and surf, would you fuck with him? Make his life miserable? Probably not. You’d probably let the guy be, or maybe ask for an autograph. But not in the psychological thriller The Surfer, where a bunch of locals decide Cage is someone they don’t want to share the waves with.
The film is directed by Lorcan Finnegan, best known for directing the weird sci-fi film Vivarium. Penned by Thomas Martin, The Surfer stars Cage as a father who returns to the Australian beach of his childhood to relive fond memories and surf with his son. But that’s when a bunch of locals decide they’d rather bully him for being an outsider, and you know? They push him way over the edge.
Joining Cage in the cast are Julian McMahon, Nic Cassim, Miranda Tapsell, Alexander Bertrand, and Justin Rosniak.
Premiering at Cannes, The Surfer was given a six-minute standing ovation by the audience. It will be interesting to see if viewers feel the same when it opens in theaters on May 2nd courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
SYNOPSIS: When a man (Cage) returns to his beachside hometown in Australia, many years since building a life for himself in the U.S., he is humiliated in front of his teenage son by a local gang of surfers who claim strict ownership over the secluded beach of his childhood. Wounded, “The Surfer” decides to remain at the beach, declaring war against those in control of the bay. But as the conflict escalates, the stakes spin wildly out of control, taking “The Surfer” to the edge of his sanity.
