| Director | Lorcan Finnegan |
|---|---|
| Genre | psychological thriller |
| Runtime | 100 min |
| Country | Australia, Ireland, United States |
| Box office | $2.1 million |
The Surfer drives his teen son to Luna Bay to surf, hoping to show his son the house above the beach, which he is desperately trying to purchase. It used to be his father's, and it is where he grew up surfing before his father's untimely death. They however are rudely turned away by a gang of surfing localists led by Scally, a self-styled surf guru determined to protect the beach from non-residents. The Surfer disappointedly returns his son to his mother and returns to the Luna Bay parking lot.
Desperate to close the deal on the house before Christmas, the Surfer continually needles his real estate agent in an attempt to scrape up the over million dollars needed to outbid another buyer. A colleague at the Surfer's investment firm calls to let him know he needs to return to work soon to sort out an issue. His estranged wife also calls to say that she is engaged and having a baby, crushing his hopes of reuniting his family at the beach house, where he wants his son to be able to surf as he did. The Surfer's ex-wife, like the agent, suggests he give up his obsession with the beach house. The Surfer observes the Bum, who is living in his broken-down station wagon in the parking lot and is being harassed by the beach boys. The Bum tells the Surfer that Scally murdered his award-winning surfer son and killed his dog.
That evening, the Surfer's surfboard goes missing. He goes down to the gang’s beach retreat to demand his board back, but is forced to leave after defeating one of the surfers in a fight. He calls the police and an officer arrives in the morning, but the Surfer becomes dejected when the officer turns out to be another disciple of Scally's, demanding the Surfer leave and not cause more trouble.
A photographer helps the Surfer jump-start his car and, in return, takes photos of him. When his phone dies, it becomes impossible for him to use the credit on his phone to purchase food from the parking lot food hut. In return for charging his phone and a cup of coffee, the owner insists that the Surfer leave his father's watch as collateral. After the Surfer's shoes and suit coat go missing in the bathroom, he sees the food cart has closed for the day, leaving him without food, water, his phone, or his watch.
While trying unsuccessfully to steal his surfboard back, the Surfer observes the gang initiating a new adherent, who is branded. The Surfer is chased off the beach, his car is vandalized, and he is forced to hide through the night in the underbrush. In the morning, his Lexus is gone. Delusional from heat, sun, and lack of sustenance, and filthy, bloodied, and barefoot, he wanders the parking lot, imploring beach-goers to lend him their phone so he can secure funding for the house. He is intermittently accosted by visions of a man, dead in the surf, and the harshness of desert spiders and birds.
The Surfer runs into his real estate agent, who assumes him to be a vagrant and says he’s never seen him before in his life. Additionally, the policeman returns and laughs at the notion that his Lexus was stolen, telling him that his vehicle is actually the broken-down station wagon. He begins living in the station wagon, taking a shark-tooth necklace from the car, which the Bum had insisted his own son had won in a surfing competition before he was killed by Scally. The Surfer picks through the garbage to find food, drinks fetid water, and eventually tries to eat a rat he has killed. All the while, he has visions of people laughing at him.
The photographer returns and shows the Surfer a picture she took earlier of him in his suit in front of his car, proving to him that he actually does have a Lexus and a job. Enraged, he goes to the beach, nearly drowning the beach bully, Pitbull. After patching the Surfer up, Scally then reveals that the entire experience was a test to ensure that the Surfer was worthy of buying the house for his family and becoming one of them. To finally ensure that he can be trusted, Scally forces the Surfer to burn the station wagon, while his son shows up on his bike and the Lexus is in parking lot.
Finally allowed to surf, the Surfer, the Kid, Scally, and his gang all return to the beach, only to be stopped by the Bum, who has returned with a gun. The Surfer is able to convince the Bum to let him and the Kid surf by returning the Bum's shark-tooth necklace. As the Surfer and the Kid paddle out, the Bum executes Scally and then kills himself, lying in the surf just as the Surfer's father had.