10 Awesome Recent Movies Nobody Saw Coming

4. The Surfer

When you hear that Nicolas Cage is starring in a psychological thriller as a down-on-his-luck guy who starts losing his mind while battling an Australian surfing cult, you couldn't be blamed for expecting something far away from the more acclaimed entries in Cage's recent filmography - say, Pig, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Dream Scenario, and Longlegs.

But credit where it's due - The Surfer is an absolute blast.

This isn't some lousy B-movie cynically trying to cash-in on the Cult of Cage - it's a wonderfully unhinged, kaleidoscopic thriller which tosses the actor into a quite literal sea of toxic masculinity and tasks him with paddling his way out.

Obviously indebted to classic films like Wake in Fright and The Swimmer, The Surfer is a refreshing plunge down a very twisted rabbit hole, making the most of its underexplored Aussie setting and giving Cage yet another opportunity - like he needs to the encouragement - to go absolutely buck wild.