Nicolas Cage has a new horror film coming out called The Surfer, and paranoia is woven into the very fabric of the movie.
Cage's character, The Surfer, just wants to take his son onto the water to ride the waves. However, it quickly becomes clear that it won't be happening due to a strange cult of surfer dudes aggressively asserting their dominance over the very beach itself.
What follows is an expected journey that causes the main character to question his very reality.
The Direct spoke with the talented creatives behind The Surfer on the red carpet at SXSW, including Julian McMahon (Scally), Alexander Bertrand (Pitbull), Lorcan Finnegan (Director), Thomas Martin (Writer), James Grandison (Producer), and Leonora Darby (Producer).
The Surfer Cast Explains the Role of Paranoia In Their New Film
"... How Do You Manipulate This Character?
- The Direct: "Paranoia is so important to this film, can you talk about how it's woven into the fabric of the story and also how it affected your own performance?"
Julian McMahon: Well, that's an interesting question because that's your interpretation of the paranoia thing, right? And don't forget, I play the character that creates all of that, you know what I mean.
So I think, from my own kind of point of view, it was really about, how do you manipulate this character? How do you push him to the limit, right, to the point where he basically says, Okay, you win, and I'm gonna leave, kind of thing right?
And so that was my kind of mission, which, in your interpretation of it, is pushing him towards paranoia. I think it's pushing him towards mental instability, right? Part of that could be paranoia, but I kind of felt like that was my role in them.
Alexander Bertrand: Well, I think one of the craziest things about this film addressing paranoia as a whole is, what keeps him there at the beach?
His whole [reason] that he's there is he just wants to give his son this thing, but it's, I don't know so much about paranoia, but it's more about what keeps somebody there and what length somebody will go to to have the perfect life, if that makes sense.
- The Direct: Paranoia plays a huge role in this movie. Can you talk about how that's woven into the DNA of the film and how this film kind of addresses that in a unique way?
Lorcan Finnegan: There's an element of gas lighting, which was always part of the story. So then it was really about the characters making that believable. You know that they're convincing, but at the same time, you get a sense that something's not quite right about what's going on, and whether, like, Nick's character is starting to crack up, or these guys are trying to do something to them, but a lot of that was through the casting and working with the actors about, if they were messing with them, how would they do that?
Thomas Martin: I mean, the whole film is essentially about gaslighting and someone sort of trapped in a psychological prison of his own making. It's a little bit of a sort of a Jungian journey into hell where he has to battle his shadow self and look at himself. So it's all about identity and paranoia about who he really is.
James Grandison: Absolutely, I think; I'm very excited for audiences to see it because, yes, the paranoia is inherent in it's kind of a nontraditional thriller. So, it really harkens back to Great aus-plication films of the 70s like 'Wake in Fright' and that sort of thing. It's a really, kind of, surprising in the Cage movie that has that paranoia that came out of the 70s in Australia.
Leonora Darby: It's a genre movie. It's a movie all about watching someone get pushed to the absolute brink. Nick is crucial to that. We always knew it was going to be a very subjective film. I mean, look, most of the credit obviously has to go to our actors.
Lorcan [Finnegan] is a director, our wonderful polish, DP Radek—look, the camera work is stunning. All of that helps create the paranoia, the characters, and the world that has been built by Lorcan. So it all came together very inherently.
The Surfer Cast's Favorite Beach Memory
"Probably the First Time I Got to Stand Up On a Surfboard."
- The Direct: "All the surfer wants to do is surf. He wants to go to the beach. What is your personal favorite beach memory?"
Julian McMahon: Oh my gosh, probably the first time I got to stand up on a surfboard.
Alexander Bertrand: My favorite beach memory would probably be spearfishing with my dad when we were eight years old on the south coast of Australia.
Lorcan Finnegan: I think, when we were there, just arriving in the morning, you get on like a beach Boogie thing to set, and we're just like flying along the sand up to the set, you know, to shoot, and the sun's coming up on an Australian beach. It was just lovely.
Thomas Martin: My grandfather used to let me play golf on a beach in Ireland back in the day. And we used to hit golf balls off into the sea by the beach. So that's a pretty epic beach that was pretty great.
James Grandison: One of my favorite beach moments is walking along Yallingup Beach [in Australia] and being able to watch the surf and all of the wildlife there. It's unbelievable.
The full interviews can be viewed below:
The Surfer releases in theaters on May 2, 2025.
