The Surrender

Caring for their sick father, a woman and his wife try to make sure they're giving him the best chance at getting better which soon starts to take a toll on them both when he passes away and they begin a ritual to bring him back, leading them to a supernatural route they can't return from.

This was a troublesome and somewhat difficult genre effort. When this one works is based almost entirely around the final half, where the ritual is performed and the couple heads off into the other realm to continue their quest. The exploits of the specific ritual and how they're to follow the set of instructions as they do makes for a solid starting point already so that when they realize that part of the process is to go to the other side and retrieve the soul of their father to bring back with them provide not only a great series of visually-impressive tactics and rituals, but also getting off enough storyline motivations for the chilling storyline revelations. The scenes in the other realm, especially involving the naked figures shown suffering the deformed influence of the demonic figures controlling the dimension, create a series of encounters and emotional resolutions that make for a fun enough time here as this one goes along. There are some problems with this one keeping it down, though. The main aspect of this one tends to revolve around the continued usage and pronounced exploration of generational trauma and grieving between family members, which is inherently clichéd and just bland to sit through. The idea of going through the process of looking into the family history of their dead patriarch and trying to reconcile who he was and what their relationships with him were like carries on from the very beginning with the strained relationships at play between the two women who are there to help treat him at the time he needs it the most. This makes for a quite bland time here waiting around for this one to try offering up the kind of strained and fractured scenes bringing their emotions to the surface, the longer they stay there to perform the ritual, so everything here becomes a struggle to get invested in their emotionally draining quarrels. The other problem here is the bizarre series of general, troublesome motivations for how everything is supposed to go down. The initial setup of the family relationship being strained between the two women is enough to help us overlook how the whole turn to the spiritual goes from no build-up into the supernatural. This drops the mothers' descent into the mystical with rampant usage of occult practices and trinkets almost immediately, which is supposed to represent how little they know about each other, but comes off with little build-up or suspense. That carries on with why they need to carry out the process of bringing him back to life from the dead realm for no point, and that leaves everything with so little information that there are some problematic features with this one.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic violence, Graphic Language, and Brief Nudity.

Sometimes a movie night throws you a curveball, and this was one of those times. The crew-Willow, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow-went in completely blind for The Surrender, thinking we were just in for another spooky horror ride. The only thing we knew? It had something to do with a ritual. Sounded promising, right? Well, it was... sort of.

The idea behind the film is honestly pretty captivating: a family ritual where you're asked to "surrender" to something beyond life-spiritual, emotional, and frighteningly real. That was enough to get all of us hooked early on. But when the movie dives deeper into this ritual, especially surrounding the death of the father, it starts raising the question: why not just let the man rest in peace? Still, we knew if that happened, there'd be no movie.

Things escalate fast when the supernatural elements kick in. It is a scary movie-no doubt about it. Tails literally tapped out mid-way through when the intensity cranked up (no spoilers, but it got wild). Willow, Knuckles, and Shadow were vibing with the thrills, but both Knuckles and Shadow called out the main character for being kind of weak in those monster scenes. They joked she could've taken them down with half the effort if she actually tried. Classic.

Amy, on the other hand, got pulled in deep once the ritual scenes started going dark. Like, real dark. She was tense throughout-especially when the blood came into play-and said the ritual arc was easily her favorite part, even if it creeped her out. Honestly, same.

But here's where the movie kind of lost all of us: the pacing and the emotional drama. There's a lot of back-and-forth between the two main characters, and while we get it's meant to show grief and trauma, it felt repetitive and dragged out. The emotional weight just didn't land like it should have. The story kind of stumbled in building the supernatural world, too-like, the ritual was cool, but why it happened and what it really meant? That part was foggy and undercooked.

By the time it wrapped up, we all agreed it was fun to experience together, especially in the dark with the volume up. It had moments-definitely creepy, visually strong at times-but as a full package, it didn't live up to what the concept deserved.

Final score from the crew: 4/10. Cool idea, scary at parts, but not quite the horror gem we hoped for.

I recently watched The Surrender (2025) on Shudder. The story centers on a mother and daughter caring for their dying husband and father. After his passing, the mother surprises her daughter with a resurrection ritual-one the daughter reluctantly agrees to participate in, only to quickly regret.

Written and directed by Julia Max in her directorial debut, the film stars Colby Minifie (The Boys), Katerina Burton (Big Trouble in Little China), Vaughn Armstrong (The Net), and Riley Rose Critchlow (The Jessica Cabin).

This one caught me off guard. It's the kind of film that feels draped in a dark, heavy atmosphere from start to finish. The setup-both in terms of relationships and mood-is pitch-perfect. Colby Minifie and Katerina Burton give standout performances, playing off each other with great tension and emotional weight. The horror elements are well executed, with impressive practical effects and makeup. There's also a memorable old-man-running scene that's fun. The film really takes off once the ritual begins, and the final stretch is intense and effective. I didn't love the very last 30 seconds, but the journey leading up to it made the film worth watching.

In conclusion, The Surrender is a flawed but compelling addition to the horror genre. I'd give it a 6.5/10.

There is something uncertain and magical in The Surrender as a mother and daughter struggle to manage as they face the dying of their husband and father. The metaphysical supernatural aspects made me ponder the notion of death in light of accepting this inevitability or fighting against letting go. In this aspect, the film is successful; the acting and direction set the scene well to contemplate this and ponder on this release.

The part that drew me away from this contemplation was the general annoyance of the two main characters. The mother and daughter fought, complained, bullied, capitulated, ruminated, and whined about each other for the present and the past. I once called put for the daughter to "Shut up!" even though I was annoyed at the mother for her inability to see past her own needs and desires. (The daughter was suggested to have her own purposes that were selfish as well.)

The family dynamics were a bit too dysfunctional for a clearer focus on grief and recovery. The extreme here lead me to think of a Greek tragedy, but the characters and the plot were too small to match that. Still, I left the film with a sense of having found my own way in grieving and glad I didn't need these extremes to find resolution in my own life.

"The Surrender" is a supernatural folklore-horror that centres on a mother-daughter conflict.

Despite its promising premise-a meditation on death, grief, and the unbearable pain of loss-the story never quite fulfils its potential.

The writer-director Julia Max's feature debut reveals a striking eye for visuals and atmosphere. Her aesthetic choices are superb, especially in the film's last moments, where grief tension simmer beneath the surface.

However, when the narrative shifts from family drama to occult ritual, coherence begins to falter. The film descends into a kind of beautiful nonsense, evoking echoes of Hereditary, Talk to Me, A Dark Song, The Babadook, and, more recently, The Shrouds.

Max draws layered performances from her leads. Megan (Colby Minifie) and Barbara (Kate Burton) are emotionally distinct and compelling.

Barbara is cold and resolute in her quest to resurrect her husband Robert (Vaughn Armstrong) after a tormented illness, while Megan wrestles with doubt, torn between empathy and skepticism, burdened by the ongoing pain of watching her father suffer.

The core idea is clear, and there's real potential for emotional impact in its exploration of the truths we're most reluctant to face.

The narrative gaps and tonal inconsistencies are too evident to ignore. The film digs into deep themes but struggles to land with clarity and keep viewers engaged.

There are moments worth honoring, such as how the film plays intriguingly with trauma, hope, and monstrosity-blending psychological horror with gore and body horror elements.

It stirs something compelling, even if the final result feels more like an atmospheric sketch than a fully realised vision.

"The Surrender" doesn't over-explain itself-a refreshing choice in a genre often burdened by exposition. Yet at times, it veers too far into the cryptic, resembling a literal descent into a hellish purgatory, leaving the audience more adrift than intrigued.

Is it a bad film? Absolutely not. It's flawed, but not without merit. Flawed but worthwhile, especially for fans of visually rich, boundary-pushing indie horror.

While "The Surrender" doesn't quite stick the landing, Max's bold vision and confident aesthetic suggest she's a filmmaker to watch.

Horror needs voices like hers-unsettling, ambitious, and willing to take risks.