Fresh off his wildly creepy and unnerving performance in Oz Perkins’ Longlegs, Nicolas Cage returns in the slow-burn psychological thriller The Surfer. For those looking for another performance by Cage that’s as bonkers as his roles in Mandy, Longlegs, or even David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, they may be a bit disappointed. Cage dials it down slightly in this new film, though that doesn’t mean the feature lacks unsettling moments.

Directed by Lorcan Finnegan, with a script by Thomas Martin, the film occurs in Australia, specifically an idyllic beach. Cage, who plays an unnamed surfer, returns to the gorgeous location during Christmas time to surf with his son, played by Finn Little, who also goes unnamed. The surfer, reeling from an impending divorce, plans to buy an absolutely stunning beach-front property, which belonged to his father. Cage’s character constantly reminisces about his childhood home, though as the film goes on, we realize that his childhood was anything but perfect. He harbors serious trauma, which also explains why he wants the house so badly.

Yet, from the outset, nothing goes as planned. The realtor continually ignores his calls. The house appears likely to slip from his grasp because he can’t come up with the thousands still needed to purchase the property. No matter how much he tells himself the house will be his, that seems increasingly unlikely. Even worse, he and his son are bullied and harassed by a group of locals, led by the imposing Scally (Julian McMahon). Initially, Scally simply warns father and son not to return to the beach. It’s for locals only, even if it’s public. However, Cage’s character refuses to listen and spends much of the film spying on the group of locals through binoculars from a parking lot.

From there, the surfer’s situation only worsens. He loses more money. He loses his watch that belonged to his father at the hands of a barista, and he increasingly becomes dehydrated and hungry. He also witnesses the locals pummel others who try to surf at their coveted beach. It can’t be understated just how weird the vibe of the film becomes, as Cage’s character loses more and more of his sanity. Though Cage doesn’t give a performance as meme-worthy as some of his other roles, there is a scene where his character entertains eating a rat. There’s also sequences where a viewer will question if the anonymous surfer is a homeless man who continually returns to the area.

Though not everything in the film makes sense, like the lack of a good reason that the surfer doesn’t have an Australian accent, even though he was born there, there are some good performances here, including by McMahon, who transforms into a cult-like villain. Out of all of his young henchmen, Blondie, played by Rory O’Keeffe, is another standout as a good secondary villain. As for Cage, well, people either like him or not. He’s not as over-the-top here, and his performance is much more reserved considering his more recent roles, but well, he’s still Cage. Love him or leave him.

The Surfer struggles some with its script and has a predictable ending, but as a timeless tale of the locals versus the outsider, the film’s central conflict works. The feature contains a few rattling psychological moments and a slow-burn vibe with a slightly scaled-down Cage at the center of it all.