News

Stars: Colby Minifie, Kate Burton, Chelsea Alden, Vaughn Armstrong, Riley Rose Critchlow, Mia Ellis, Lola Prince Kelly | Written and Directed by Julia Max

When the family patriarch dies, a grieving mother and daughter risk their lives to perform a brutal resurrection ritual and bring him back from the dead.

When I selected The Surrender for viewing on Shudder, little did I expect the emotional rollercoaster that awaited me. With a running time of 96 minutes, Julia Max delivers a truly profound and powerful insight into grief and the demands of palliative care on the family as well as the patient, something rarely seen within the horror genre.

The script also effectively shows how memories of the same event can be changed through different perspectives, in this case when it comes to a daughter idolising her father over her mother, alongside the tensions that arise from parents trying to protect their children...

The horrific experience of grief is a pervasive theme in the horror genre, no matter how far back you look. Feeling like your heart is being torn from your chest after the loss of a loved one is a subjectively awful experience that varies from person to person. In her feature film debut, The Surrender, which world premiered at SXSW 2025, writer and director Julia Max tackles portraying her own experience with grief through the lens of an exhausting ritual and a deeply strained mother-daughter relationship.

In the film:

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.

Watch the new trailer below:...

Watch the Trailer for The Surrender: "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."

Director: Julia Max Screenwriter: Julia Max Cast: Colby Minifie, Kate Burton, Neil Sandilands, Vaughn Armstrong, Mia Ellis, Pete Ploszek, Chelsea Alden, Alaina Pollack, Riley Rose Critchlow, Lola Prince Kelly Producers: Mia Chang, Lovell Holder, Robert J. Ulrich, Julia Max, Ian McDonald Executive Producers: Susan Gelb, Adam Maffei, Rob Massar Director of Photography: Cailin Yatsko Editor: Sushila Love Genre: Thriller, Horror Composer: Alex Winkler Language: English Runtime: 99 mins

Streaming on Shudder Friday, May 23rd



----

Blumhouse Horrorverse in Meta Horizon - An Immersive Horror Experience Launching on May...

Grief gets a gnarly new shakeup in The Surrender, the feature debut by writer-director Julia Max. Shudder has released the hellish new trailer ahead of the occult ritual horror movie’s debut next month.

The Surrender is set to debut on Shudder in North America, UK/Ireland and Australia/New Zealand on May 23.

The horror movie stars Colby Minifie (“The Boys “) and Kate Burton (“Grey’s Anatomy”) as a fraught mother-daughter duo whose 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.”

Neil Sandilands (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, “Sweet Tooth”), Vaughn Armstrong, Mia Ellis, Pete Ploszek, Chelsea Alden, Alaina Pollack, Riley Rose Critchlow,...

What is grief but love persevering? Well, in Julia Max’s visceral, uncompromising world of “The Surrender” (2025), grief also tears you from the inside out. It stalks your waking senses like a ravenous demon and upends your perception of every memory associated with the people you are mourning. Max does not ease us into these discomfiting emotions, as “The Surrender” opens with a revolting image of something feasting on a body, its skin bearing the gnarly evidence of being ripped and possessed. Cut to Megan (Colby Minifie), who has recently arrived at her parents’ place to look after her ailing father, Robert (Vaughn Armstrong). Anxious and suffocated due to her overbearing mother Barbara (Kate Burton), Megan wades through this difficult time in distress, oscillating between emotions that end up forming a noxious cocktail.

Megan and Barbara’s intense, contentious dynamic is the core of “The Surrender,” as this fraught relationship...

An upcoming indie horror movie, The Surrender, adds stars from the hit satirical superhero series, The Boys, and the long-running medical drama, Grey's Anatomy, to its cast. Colby Minifie and Kate Burton will lead the new project by first-time filmmaker Julia Max.

Per Deadline, Minifie and Burton headline The Surrender, which is currently in production in Los Angeles. The duo is joined by Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes star Neil Sandilands, Star Trek: Enterprise's Vaughn Armstrong, You's Pete Ploszek and 13 Reasons Why actor Chelsea Aiden. Mia Ellis, Riley Rose Critchlow, Alaina Pollock and Lola Prince Kelly round out The Surrender cast.

Related M3GAN Spinoff SOULM8TE Adds The Boys Actor

After a multi-season run on Prime Video's The Boys, actor Claudia Doumit is heading to the M3GAN universe for the spinoff movie, SOULM8TE.

Minifie is best known for portraying Vought International's oft-stressed CEO, Ashley Barrett, in The Boys,...

Exclusive: Kate Burton (Grey’s Anatomy) and Colby Minifie (The Boys) will lead the cast of The Surrender, an indie horror film from first-time feature filmmaker Julia Max.

Others to appear in the film, currently shooting in Los Angeles, include Neil Sandilands (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes), Vaughn Armstrong (Star Trek: Enterprise), Mia Ellis (Lavender Men), Pete Ploszek (You), Chelsea Alden (13 Reasons Why), Riley Rose Critchlow, Lola Prince Kelly and Alaina Pollack.

A sales title with all rights available, The Surrender centers on a fraught mother-daughter relationship that 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 ritual spirals out of control, both women must reconcile their differences as they fight for their lives, and for each other.

“The Surrender is an incredibly personal...

It's mommy and me time!

Vanessa Lachey took a break from practicing her Dancing With the Stars routines to host the launch of L.O.L Surprise! in Hollywood on Sept. 29. The mom of three made the day extra special by bringing along her 3-year-old daughter, Brooklyn.

Photo: Rachel Murray/Getty Images

It seemed to be all about family for Hollywood's finest this week. Brooke Burke Charvet brought her husband, David Charvet, and two of their kids to the launch of the new safe ride app, Chrysler and Kango, at iPic Westwood and Tuck Room Tavern in Los Angeles on Oct. 2. The night's VIP guests got to watch a stand-up set from Heather McDonald, who also brought her fam to the event, as well as a special screening of The Lego Ninjago Movie.

Photo: Chris Delmas

Pics: Celebs & Their Cute Kids

And James Corden hosted a private, family-friendly Xbox playdate event at the Microsoft Lounge in Venice...