THE STORY – A fraught mother-daughter relationship is put to a terrifying test when the family patriarch dies, and the grieving mother hires a mysterious stranger to bring her husband back from the dead. As the bizarre and brutal resurrection spirals out of control, both women must confront their differences as they fight for their lives – and for each other.
THE CAST – Colby Minifie, Kate Burton, Neil Sandilands, Vaughn Armstrong, Mia Ellis, Pete Ploszek, Chelsea Alden, Alaina Pollack, Riley Rose Critchlow & Lola Prince Kelly
THE TEAM – Julia Max (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 90 Minutes
On the surface, “The Surrender” seems like the type of horror movie often found at film festivals: gory but with sparse, selective scares, usually relying more on implication than imagery. And while that’s primarily true here, its greatest strength is its pair of actresses – Colby Minifie (TV’s “The Boys”) and legendary stage actress Kate Burton. Despite playing a mother-daughter pair facing the same upsetting circumstances, they smartly deliver very different types of performances. But just because Minifie is more outwardly expressive and Burton keeps her emotions mostly contained doesn’t mean that one outshines the other. Both are exceptional, and the film is made much, much better because of their work. Otherwise, its ideas and execution aren’t entirely original and ultimately feel underexplored.
Minifie plays Megan, a young woman who’s come home to visit her dying father, Robert (Vaughn Armstrong). Her mother, Barbara (Burton), appears to be neglecting him by giving him less than his recommended regular dose of morphine, which the visiting nurse confides to Megan is a common tactic for spouses who want to feel needed by their sick loved ones. But one morning, after both Megan and Barbara accidentally give him a dose of morphine each, they wake up to find Robert dead, his pain finally at an end. But that’s far from the end of their time with him. Barbara reveals to Megan that she’s contacted a spiritualist with the specific goal of resurrecting Robert. Before the mysterious stranger (Neil Sandilands, credited only as “The Man”) arrives, the two women must go through a strange, upsetting procedure that involves burning all of Robert’s possessions and everything that contains a memory of him. And when The Man shows up on their doorstep, it becomes clear that this ritual will not be easy, short, or without risk for Megan or Barbara.
As Megan, Minifie delivers a terrific, volatile performance. A large portion of the film requires her to act entirely on her own without any on-screen partners, and she manages to find variety in her emotions and line readings despite having little to play off of. And so much of the film’s horror derives from her reactions to unseen, or only partially seen, entities. Without the deep emotional well from which Minifie is able to pull, the film would essentially fall apart. The film’s fear factor is reliant on her exceptional acting abilities. And Burton, unsurprisingly to anyone who’s seen her on stage, brings a grounded, real quality to her character. It’s easy to feel the weight of time and hardship on her, which is supported by the flashbacks showing her difficult marriage to Robert (her younger self is played by Chelsea Alden). This choice to remain pragmatic and steady, even in the face of death and demonic rituals, gives the appropriate impression that Barbara has lived a long life, is aware of being closer to her end than her beginning, and has made peace with this. It’s essential that the audience buy into her character’s no-nonsense decision-making, and Burton sells it. That’s not to say her performance is entirely underplayed; the moments where she does show bursts of anger or fear are even more shocking because of the contrast between them and how she’s behaved for most of the movie.
Although it’s more of a slow burn, “The Surrender” still features a number of classic scare moments meant to startle viewers. One involving Megan and a mirror is delightfully spooky, using simple, tried, and true traditional horror movie techniques. The makeup effects, especially later in the film, are nasty and creatively gory, effectively selling the supernatural entities that have invaded Megan and Barbara’s lives. The sound work also makes the audience feel and sense otherworldly beings that may or may not actually be there, helping put viewers into Megan’s paranoid, fearful headspace.
But thematically, “The Surrender” does nothing new. That’s not to say the real-world parallels it explores aren’t worth further or constant excavation by movies. Still, this one doesn’t approach its analysis of grief with any revelatory or fresh ideas. Ultimately, the film speeds towards its ending in a way that feels sudden when it finally comes to a crashing conclusion. It’s almost as if the filmmakers had some great plans for the ritual itself, along with specific horror-based ideas that they wanted to execute, and the underlying messages and themes were merely an addendum to give the film some gravitas.
Despite some shallow thematic storytelling and cliche ideas (the repeated use of the deceased Robert offering advice to Megan from beyond the grave is, unfortunately, cheesy), “The Surrender” is ultimately enjoyable when viewed as a scare-delivery machine rather than any sort of deep narrative about the extreme actions that grief can lead us to. Colby Minifie and Kate Burton’s tremendous, ferocious performances are some of the best of 2025 so far, in the horror genre or otherwise.
