NOTE: This Cannes Film Festival 2024 entry premiered April 26, 2025 at the Atlanta Film Festival.

It’s a turf war for a surf corps as Nicolas Cage’s character, revisiting his idyllic childhood beach with an optimistic nostalgia, becomes entangled in an escalating conflict with local bullies led by Julian McMahon that pushes him to his psychological limits. Lorcan Fennigan’s offbeat thriller The Surfer (B) summons that urge to avenge those who have crushed one’s precious sandcastle or pierced the armor of one’s very existence. The film is a triumph of mood and tone, filmed on a sun-baked Australian shore where even the animals appear to be mocking the titular character’s plight while a twisted form of toxic masculinity settles in on the seaside enclave. The film is told from Cage’s objective point of view, and audiences will truly relate to the notion of a world crumbling around his increasingly pathetic persona. The bright colors of cars and cabanas eclipse the man’s harrowing breakdown while the exotica style music seems to gleefully dance on his living grave. This is Cage at his most Cagey, culminating in some truly outrageous misadventures as he employs survival tactics in a myopic and petty tribal battle; even eating and drinking become a ridiculous ritual for this man entrenched against the world. His character isn’t really crafty enough to go full Falling Down on his adversaries, but it’s all a fascinating journey into this particular rabbit hole. McMahon’s character is a delightful primal match for him, and the set pieces and situations set up a perfect insular environment for a complete unravel. The film isn’t terribly insightful but is mostly rather riveting. Experience the undertow of this playful and peculiar tale; but whenever the crafty Cage is involved in an idiosyncratic project, swim at your own risk.