The Surfer (2025)
Directed by Lorcan Finnegan
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.
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34 films that influenced The Surfer
What critics say influenced The Surfer
Finnegan, drawing inspiration from The Swimmer, crafts a story that delves into themes of nostalgia, displacement, and toxic masculinity. Like Burt Lancaster’s character in The Swimmer, Cage’s protagonist appears to be a man out of time, desperately clinging to an idea of home that may never have truly existed.
Drawing inspiration from Burt Lancaster’s often overlooked gem, “The Swimmer,” the two Irishmen have crafted a Kafkaesque surfer-out-of-water scenario…
I kept on thinking of the Frank Perry 1968 film with Burt Lancaster, “The Swimmer.” Maybe because both protagonists are obsessed, almost to the point of possession, with their individual goal.
…plays like The Swimmer in Ozploitation mode, particularly paying tribute to Wake in Fright…
…influenced heavily by the 1968 Burt Lancaster film The Swimmer…
Popular movies of this kind include Mad Max, Dead End: Drive In, and, most notably, Wake in Fright.
…a style that includes both WALKABOUT and MAD MAX…
…or a low budget surf n’ sand variation on “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015), with the antagonists coming across like members of Immortan Joe’s ride or die death cult.
There’s a temptation to claim The Surfer shares DNA with psychological thrillers such as Eden Lake (2008) and Falling Down (1993).
…it’s leading to Cage having a Falling Down-style breakdown and rampage…
Jaws, The Monster of Piedras Blancas, and more horror films make the sandy beach scary.
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…something like the "Beach Blanket Bingo" version of "Wake in Fright"…
…both he and Martin had a shared love of Australian New Wave films from the late 1970s like Wake in Fright, The Last Wave, and Long Weekend. Like The Surfer, they dealt with themes of toxic masculinity…
It’s a bit like Wake in Fright meets Mandy, which is every bit as awesome, utethered, and unsettling as it sounds.
…something like the "Beach Blanket Bingo" version of "Wake in Fright"…
If you’ve seen the classic Aussie-set thriller Wake in Fright (1971), then you’ll likely see its influence cleverly woven into The Surfer.
…plays like The Swimmer in Ozploitation mode, particularly paying tribute to Wake in Fright…
A littoral response to Wake In Fright, heavy with symbolism and portent…
Director
Nicolas Roeg
Critics invoke Roeg by name, and compare The Surfer to 1 of Roeg’s films.
Visuals
On Roeg, rather than any one film
Finnegan deserves credit deploying a distinctly cinematic, almost Nicolas Roeg-like film language through editing…
…a style that includes both WALKABOUT and MAD MAX…
…both he and Martin had a shared love of Australian New Wave films from the late 1970s like Wake in Fright, The Last Wave, and Long Weekend. Like The Surfer, they dealt with themes of toxic masculinity…
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…both he and Martin had a shared love of Australian New Wave films from the late 1970s like Wake in Fright, The Last Wave, and Long Weekend. Like The Surfer, they dealt with themes of toxic masculinity…
You only need to watch “American History X”(1998) to fully understand the true scale of these people as yes, they did exist, and yes, they do still exist.