69
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The Observer (UK)Xan BrooksThe Observer (UK)Xan BrooksCrisply scripted by Thomas Martin and directed by Finnegan with a pleasing, no-frills intensity, The Surfer feels resolutely old-school. It’s a low-budget, hard-hitting comic bruiser of a picture: a midlife-crisis movie dressed up as a 1970s exploitation flick.
- 80The Irish TimesTara BradyThe Irish TimesTara BradyThe Nicolas Cage renaissance rages on and this unsettling Ozpoiltation thriller provides a perfect sandbox for “Nicolas Cage”, the actor who enjoys a good metatextual jape.
- 80IGNLex BriscusoIGNLex BriscusoLorcan Finnegan’s smart survival thriller The Surfer sets a brutal, sun-soaked stage for star Nicolas Cage to do what he does best: go completely nuts.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinThe Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinIn the end, the film feels too rollicking and self-parodying to be taken seriously, but it strikes just the right tone to make it a fun Midnight movie.
- 67IndieWireJosh Slater-WilliamsIndieWireJosh Slater-WilliamsThere is still much to enjoy and admire here if you can stay on the film’s wavelength without getting frustrated.
- 67The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorThis is a film that knows what it’s doing and does it very well
- 60Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonFinnegan continues to demonstrate a passion for upending the banality of the everyday, but The Surfer gets as lost as its protagonist, unable to ride the wave of its own mad design.
- 60VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanThe film is trying for something, but it’s also sketchy in the extreme.