The Surrender is directed by Julia Max and the cast includes Colby Minifie, Kate Burton, Neil Sandilands, Vaughn Armstrong.
My Thoughts On The Surrender
Another horror film about grief and family dynamics, I hear you cry!
Yep, it sure is. Grief in horror films seem to have become a staple with every third release these days, and when done well they can be really good, although I suspect a lot of people might be getting fed up with them.
The Surrender is the newest one to take on this trope, and is a feature film debut from director Julia Max, and follows Megan (Colby Minifie) and her mother, Barbara (Kate Burton), who are taking care of their aging father, Robert (Vaughn Armstrong).
After an overdose kills him, Barbara becomes obsessed with trying to bring him back, and then “The Man” (Neil Sandilands) shows up, promising a ritual that might make it happen.
The film is less about the actual Ritual, and all about the characters and family dynamics.
Minifie and Burton make this film work, and they are both really good.
Megan is someone who keeps questioning what’s going on, while Barbara just throws herself into her plan without thinking much about the consequences, and everything they do together helps move the story forward naturally.
Before the supernatural ritual stuff takes over, the film spends time on the family dynamics, and how Megan and Barbara handle their father’s death differently. We get to see flashbacks showing Megan as a child, where we see how her father is gentle with her, while her mother on the other hand comes across as much more intense.
Some of these scenes do move slowly, focusing on Robert’s health and the family’s adjustment to his death, but it's full of small details about the characters, details that actually add something, instead of being just filler for fillers sake.
And then “The Man” arrives and the ritual begins, and this is where the story and tone shifts.
We start to get some real tension that builds slowly, not with constant noise or scares, but with the uncertainty of what’s going to happen next, as you watch the characters navigate everything going on, and the mix of conflict and supernatural horror worked better than I expected.
Watching Megan and Barbara make choices is interesting because their actions are messy and unpredictable, like how it would be if it was to happen in real life. They argue, clash, make mistakes, and sometimes act on impulse.
Megan doesn’t just question everything, she hesitates, observes, and reacts in ways that feel very relatable, while Barbara is more obsessive, and you genuinely can see why she refuses to let go, even when she’s making mistakes, as there’s a logic to her obsession.
The movie also doesn’t try to explain everything or neatly wrap up their motivations either, you just see how they react, and that’s enough. It's a film that is not just about a ritual as mentioned, it’s actually more about how these people respond when something impossible enters their lives.
The pacing overall is pretty good as well. At around 90 minutes, the movie doesn’t feel rushed, and while some of the slower scenes might make people impatient if they’re only expecting jumps and scares, I thought they were necessary, as they set up the relationships, the stakes, and the tension for the ritual scenes.
There are also moments that are unpleasant or even some might say gross, but the film uses them carefully, and they’re not there just to shock, they are there to fit the story.
Everything feels very deliberate and most scenes have a reason for existing, even in the tiniest way, and I thought The Surrender was a decent enough watch and quite well done overall, and I will look forward to seeing what Julia Max does next.