The Surfer

A couple of months back I recommended VIVARIUM, a bizarre movie from director LORCAN FINNEGAN, and I mentioned that his next film THE SURFER was due to hit screens this year. It has, I’ve seen it, and I’m pleased to report that it’s a cracking movie. With some surprising similarities to VIVARIUM, THE SURFER was a trip from beginning to end, and features good old NICOLAS CAGE in one of his trademark ‘going completely nuts’ performances.

A man returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son. When he is humiliated by a group of locals, the man is drawn into a conflict that keeps rising and pushes him to his breaking point.

In my review of VIVARIUM, I made the point that some films should be embraced as experiences rather than stories. Though THE SURFER has a more straightforward narrative than Finnegan’s previous film, the same is true here. You just need to sit back and let it wash over you.

THE SURFER immediately brought to mind those great Australia-set movies of the 1970s like LONG WEEKEND and NIC ROEG’S superb WALKABOUT. You’ve got to think that the similarities are intentional, because great use is made of fast zooms, quick cutaway shots, and close-ups to focus on the antipodean wildlife and scenery. It all looks beautiful enough, but you know there are things hiding in the vegetation that could kill you in a heartbeat.

I visited Australia in 2016. We were only able to stay for a fortnight, and I’m keen to go back because we were inevitably only able to see an infinitesimally small fraction of a huge country. I remember visiting the Blue Mountains on a beautiful, hot and clear day, and looking out and seeing nothing but trees. I had never seen such a vast and uninterrupted view, with not a single sign of human life. Coming from the UK where the population is relatively densely packed, it was a stark contrast. It was also a little unsettling; a vivid reminder of our own personal insignificance, of how we’re little more than specks of dust in the overall scheme of things. I’ve thought about that experience quite a bit since I saw THE SURFER because the crux of the film is the titular character’s insistence on surfing a particular beach, and the locals’ resistance because although he grew up there, he’s not local enough. It’s interesting that although the film is set in a huge country where there are endless swathes of uninhabited territory, the entire movie is restricted to one location: a small beach and a clifftop car park. That’s another similarity to VIVARIUM, I think, in that both stories take place within bizarrely limited, and relatively featureless, surroundings. In VIVARIUM, the main characters are doing everything they can to escape a nightmarish, maze-like housing estate. Here, Cage’s unnamed character is doing all he can to stay put.

We learn in the opening scenes that this place is where ‘the man’ grew up, and it’s where he intends to return with his family, as his childhood home has just come up for sale. Pretty soon, though, we learn that all is not well in his world. For a while I thought the film was heading into FALLING DOWN territory, but I was very wrong and I’m glad about that. THE SURFER isn’t a rehash of old themes, it’s something new and original.

The is the point where I need to stop typing and urge you to see THE SURFER. The more I say about the plot, the more I risk ruining the experience for you. It went in directions I didn’t expect, and though the conclusion wasn’t wholly satisfying, it was certainly original and unexpected. The movie looks beautiful, the colours are vivid and you can feel the savage, inescapable heat of the Australian sun. The supporting cast is uniformly strong, but there’s no question this is the Nic Cage show, and though his over-the-top crazy performances like this have irritated me in the past, this one hits the spot perfectly. Go and see it.