Julia Max (director)
Shudder (studio)
90 (length)
23 May 2025 (released)
22 May 2025
With her daughter Megan (Colby Minifie), Barbara (Kate Burton) is caring after her terminally ill husband Robert (Vaughn Armstrong) at the family home.
They aren’t a close family as they squabble over the recommended treatment, with Barbara going against professional advice. She’s adopted what could be termed a weird homeopathic ideology that eschews drugs (for the most part) but recommends teeth in a bag under Robert’s bed, and pulling her hair out.
Both of which have been noticed by Megan. Matters come to a head when Robert dies, and Barbara tells Megan that she has been working with others, (preparing the house and emptying her savings) for some time to bring him back to life.
There’s a heavy price to pay both physically and financially when a man (Neil Sandilands) arrives to conduct the ritual. With few words the body is prepared, a circle of sigils drawn and then disaster. One of the rituals very strict rules has been broken, letting something lose and trapping them.
Written and directed by Julia Max, her debut film appears to come from a very personal place. A study of grief but also of love and truths that sometimes are only ready to be revealed at the most traumatic moments. That pretty much sums up the Megan/Barbara relationship, neither really understanding the other until it’s too late, and then muddied as the scales fall from Megan’s eyes regarding her father.
The Surrender plays out well on an empathic level, to a point. Mother, father, and daughter have their issues, which may well resonate with some viewers, though neither Megan nor Barbara will elicit much sympathy for their characters.
Max doesn’t stray too far from the tropes of these sorts of films. The physical horror is effective with a few gruesome moments and images building a malign air once the film is into the ritual.
This is most effective in the final act when its not totally clear where the botched ritual has left the protagonists with reality and the metaphysical interweaving.
The Surrender will be on Shudder from 23 May 2025.
