Photo: Radek Ladczuk

It’s been about a year since we first got wind that Nicolas Cage was going to star in the Australian psychological thriller The Surfer. After spending several weeks filming with a majority Australian crew in Yallingpup, Western Australia, the feature is done and dusted. Now it has been announced that the movie is set to premiere at the 77th edition of the Festival de Cannes in May.

Directed by Lorcan Finnegan and written by Thomas Martin, The Surfer has Cage playing the titular character who leaves the U.S. to return to his Australian hometown. When he is humiliated in front of his teenage son by a gang of surfers at his localized home break, he decides to remain at the beach and wage war against the gang.

“This is a massive coup for the filmmakers and for Western Australia,” said Rikki Lea Bestall, Screenwest CEO. “The Surfer is the first feature film produced in WA following the launch of the WA Production Attraction Incentive, and to see it selected for the most prestigious film festival in the world is an incredible outcome and achievement. Congratulations to WA producer James Grandison, Arenamedia, the cast, crew, creatives and the entire filmmaking team.”

Movies have certainly had a mixed reputation when it comes to depictions of surfing culture, but it’s always fun to see how the sport gets depicted on the big screen. Moreover, if anyone can take on the scourge of localism, it would be Nic Cage. Guess we’ll have to wait until Cannes to find out whether they got it right.