It feels like films these days get next to no advertising. So many releases come out and either jump straight into the world of streaming or get a release in the cinema and barely manage to make their money back. The only way you'd really know these were releasing is if you actively searched online for new titles, or happened to really visit the cinema in the first place to see them available. It's a shame that this is how things are now, especially when so many interesting films are being released that really do deserve to get the extra attention for audiences: either being simply good or just being decent with something new to offer cinemas after the era of reboots, remakes, and franchise stories. The other day I had the pleasure of watching Mickey 17 in the cinema, and I was incredibly surprised to see that it was considered a box office failure having barely made its money back on an insanely inflated budget over 100 million dollars. Today I discover Novocaine, a film that seemed to do decently with a small budget at the box office, but just was not really advertised. A highlight to the film was noticing that Jack Quaid was the lead. I think he's an actor that isn't always utilised properly, but really has the potential to be great. And this is certainly a film that puts his skills to good use.
This doesn't feel like a film released in 2025. A one-and-done title that comes and goes, but is generally very entertaining with a simple premise. Very little context into its world or its characters, because little of it is even needed. Watching this, I felt like I had returned a decade and a half back at the least, to a world in which the film industry was still focused on telling entertaining, low budget stories that had no intention of being anything beyond that. Fortunately in the case of Novocaine, despite getting very little marketing, it managed to perform relatively decently on its very low budget, so this isn't considered so much of a flop in comparison to Mickey 17 and its ballooned budget and disappointing returns. But still, have you heard of Novocaine? Have you seen it mentioned anywhere? Whether advertised or just discussed online? I haven't. But this ended up being one of the best films I've watched in a while that wasn't trying to be the next big blockbuster title. Mickey 17 feeling a bit different given its size. Dan Berk and Robert Olsen being director names I haven't heard of before either. Though I think the two handled this film incredibly well, especially given it's a film with shared responsibility under two directorial names. A bit of an odd one.
With the action films of today being more and more violent, they're starting to feel a bit stale in their approach. John Wick exhausted itself very early on. Fast & Furious is, well... And even other filmmakers have taken these concepts and started doing their own spin on them: Monkey Man by Dev Patel is a great example. And I think Novocaine is the next. An action title with a spin: our protagonist doesn't feel pain. The title supposedly based on a real drug that would've been used to give patients more comfort during surgery. Though the unfortunate nickname of a school child from his peers for being the odd lab rat at school that got bullied into all sorts of strange torture due to not being able to feel any of it. Now grown up, he's an adult that works in a bank with a bit of a boring job and doesn't really get out much, spending most of his time playing online games with a person he hasn't actually met. Not quite the total loser setup, they're not painting him as a nerd type, but more someone that is a bit alone and doesn't have a lot of people around him. And with the sudden arrival of a woman that does pay attention to him, his life slowly stars to shift. Up until the day that his bank experiences a robbery, with one person killed and his girlfriend taken as hostage. With this being all he really has in life, it sends him down a route of total madness as he takes matters into his own hands to hunt them down and save her. An unexpected change of character.
Do you see where the John Wick side slightly comes into play here? With our protagonist not feeling pain, this is where the action scenes have a lot more weight to them. He's not by any means a person that can fight well. He actually has no real experience in it. But his advantage against anyone is that no matter where or how he gets hit, he doesn't feel it. This is mentioned before to us in a few ways, from stories of his childhood and how his mother had him spending so much time in hospital due to his problem. How he'd have wounds and not even notice until his shoe would fill with blood. With no consideration of pain comes no fear of getting injured, but there is still the fear of death. Things like throwing his hand into boiling oil? Nothing. Not a flinch. Being stabbed, shot with a crossbow in the leg? Again, nothing. This adds a lot of humour to the film given how nonchalantly he deals with the physical side of interactions. Where others are shouting in pain and confused, he just continues on, making light of the situation as if it's no big deal that he was just shot in the arm. In one particular scene he's captured and being tortured, forced to fake the whole thing as if it's genuinely an uncomfortable nightmare of an experience. That's the sort of film this is, and it's great! I loved the lighthearted touch, the lack of character development and limited backstory.
With the limited story, there is still drama. Our protagonist has something to fight for but there's still a twist to it all. Something that gives all the action before a bit more purpose. Though I won't mention the actual twist itself here as it's a major spoiler, it is a bit unexpected. Jack Quaid is a perfect fit for this character, I don't think there are many other active actors out there that can handle this sort of writing. Both in appearance and his style of acting. I do think that experience from the earlier seasons of The Boys came in handy here. I really liked the concept of a character not being able to feel pain but throwing themselves into a world of violence, it's one that you'd think would've been done already, especially for the comedic side of things. A creative film that is well worth a watch.
