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.

The latest Nicolas Cage movie outing takes him to Australia where he gets himself in a dispute with some locals when he tries to surf on ‘their’ beach. He is ‘The Surfer’ of the title, and the movie is a trippy psychological thriller that keeps the audience on edge by blurring the lines between reality and surrealism quite deftly. Directed by Lorcan Finnegan, it has a cast of familiar faces for anyone who’s watched some random Aussie TV shows (would love to see Justin Rosniak appear in more things), but it’s anchored by Cage who is producing some of his best work at a stage in his career when many have already written him off.

‘The Surfer’ begins with Nicolas Cage taking his son to go surfing on an idyllic beachfront close to where he grew up many years earlier, ostensibly so he can tell his son he’s going to buy the house he grew up in. This father/son bonding experience is ruined somewhat by the obnoxious group of local men who have commandeered the beach and are openly hostile to non-locals (‘The League of Gentlemen’ with Aussie accents and more sun!). Undeterred, Cage’s character (known only as The Surfer) hangs around waiting for an opportunity to surf, while also awaiting an important phone call from his mortgage broker to let him know if his offer on the house has been accepted.

As he waits, he is increasingly tormented by the locals who steal his surfboard, damage his car and increasingly turn him mental, and ‘The Surfer’ very cleverly makes you question whether this is all in his head or if it’s actually happening. It’s a narrow tightrope and the director and Cage walk it very well, and I was satisfied with how the story unfolded – all in a very neat 90 minutes. Lots to love here for fans of Nicolas Cage or surreal psychological thrillers, and I can be counted amongst the fans of ‘The Surfer’.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Lorcan Finnegan

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Nic Cassim, Miranda Tapsell, Alexander Bertrand, Justin Rosniak, Finn Little, Rahel Romahn and Charlotte Maggi

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt27813235/