"The Surrender" [2025]

by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden

In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s writer/director Julia Max’s 2025 Canada/U.S. co-production The Surrender.

Synopsis

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 Good

Joseph: The better the drama in fright fare, the more at stake and often the better the horror movie, and The Surrender serves up tense familial drama done very well indeed. Colby Minifie as Megan and Kate Burton as her mother Barbara both shine in their roles as grudges and previously withheld secrets are both brought to the surface as their terminally ill father and husband, respectively, Robert (Vaughn Armstrong) passes away because of a lack of communication between the two women. Armstrong is solid in his supporting role, as is Neil Sandilands as a decidedly eerie practitioner of the dark arts. After Max allows viewers to get to know Megan and Barbara and their tense relationship quite well, she sends the film into the realm of supernatural horror and provides an unsettling third act.

Mike: Minifie is great as Megan, a kid who is dealing with family problems and the death of her father. Her grounded, emotionally powerful performance holds the movie together. Burton plays Barbara, the mother, with a level of grief that becomes wild and scary. Their on-screen chemistry, which is based on years of the characters’ underlying tensions and their current situation, is one of the best parts.

Max, who doubles as both the writer and director, does a great job at setting the mood. The initial acts of the movie are very compelling, making the viewer feel scared and uneasy without using cheap jump scares. As the story goes on, the family house itself becomes a character that feels both familiar and cramped.

The Bad

Joseph: Not really bad but rather a bit confusing is why Barbara would want to resurrect Robert after some confessions she makes to Megan. That point may vary by viewer, admittedly. Some minimally explained or simply brought-up-once plot points exist. The larger ambiguities work well but a couple of smaller details that seemingly even Max found not important enough to go into further detail about seem a bit puzzling as to why they were even brought up.

Mike: The Surrender starts out well enough, but the otherworldly horror isn't as scary as the concentration on the characters. Even though the occult parts are important to the story, they often come in too quickly, ruining the excitement of earlier situations and making the pacing a bit unsteady in the second half as the movie goes from psychological sadness to supernatural occurrences.

Occasionally, the reasons behind some actions and the rules of the supernatural elements aren't quite evident, which might make things more confusing than scary with some plot strands that don't always feel fully developed, leaving certain story lines unexplored.

The Verdict

Joseph: Fear-fare fanatics will be hard-pressed to find a stronger recent horror feature dealing with grief than The Surrender — and there are plenty of contenders. The drama, dialogue, characterization, and performances of the mother and daughter relationship is terrific, and the supernatural horror elements are impressively eerie.

Mike: For horror aficionados who desire real-life drama and scary terror, The Surrender is a great addition to Shudder's library that focuses more on characters and setting than on scares. The movie stays with you, making you think about loss, family, and the extreme things some people do to deal with it. The interesting mix of psychological and supernatural horror should appeal to Shudder subscribers.