THE SURRENDER (2025)

New streaming on Shudder!
Directed/Written by Julia Max.
Check out the trailer here!!

Robert (Vaughn Armstrong) is terminally ill and relies on his daughter Megan (THE BOYS’ Colby Minifie) and wife Barbara (Kate Burton) to take care of him in his final days. When Robert passes, Megan tries to move on, but Barbara believes that she is able to resurrect him with the aid of a shaman (Neil Sandilands). Megan thinks her mother is simply avoiding reality but thinks this is her way of processing her loss, so she concedes to take part in an extensive ritual.

While bearing some strong similarities to the rituals that show up in the Philippou Brothers’ recent film BRING HER BACK, THE SURRENDER is a much more intimate look at grief and loss. Both have demons, protective circles, and rituals requiring specific steps in order to achieve a resurrection, the perspective of both films are completely different, making THE SURRENDER and BRING HER BACK a near perfect double feature.

THE SURRENDER zooms in close on Megan’s plight, opening with her screaming in frustration and choking down a quick smoke before running back inside to help her mother and ailing father. Right from that beginning, you know there’s conflict happening here and it’s fleshed out so realistically in the first half-hour, you don’t realize that aside from a few weird totems Megan finds by her father’s bedside, there really is nothing supernatural going on. You’d never know that this film will soon drag you kicking and screaming by the short hairs to the dankest pits of hell. This drama is played straight and real, and it’s all carried by actress Colby Minifie as Megan. She does a great job as the anxiety ridden assistant to the supes in THE BOYS, but here she handles a myriad of emotions—some that don’t put her in a good light but still manages to make you feel for her all the way through. Kate Burton does a great job as Barbara, a desperate woman grasping at straws to have a few more moments with her husband, but it’s Minifie’s Megan that really functions as the eyes and ears of the audience—doubting what is going on but attempting to go with the flow for the sake of those she loves.

For the most part, THE SURRENDER could be a stage play, as the bulk of it takes place within Megan and Barbara’s home. I love the small scope of this film, allowing the performers to take the center stage. This helps in the final half hour when all things literally go to hell as the women perform the ritual and end up within a witch’s protective circle on the edge of the underworld looking for their lost father/husband. This is one of the most chilling depictions of hell I’ve seen in ages, maybe since BASKIN, which sports one of my favorite hellscapes in film ever. In THE SURRENDER, hell is lonely and desolate, filled with blind souls just waiting to pull you in to join them. While this might be considered a slow burner, THE SURRENDER ramps up the speed to break-neck, wrapping up with a solemn and poignant ending.

THE SURRENDER is a touching film about loss but also sports some scenes of utter nightmare. It’s on a much smaller scale than films like HEREDITARY and BRING HER BACK but deals with some of the same heavy themes. I highly recommend this heart-wrenching and spine-tingling little gem.