Surge review – Ben Whishaw can’t save this chaotic character study

Surge is sheer chaos. Call it Man on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Living up to its name, Aneil Karia’s debut feature makes quite the opening statement, seeping with style and verve to match. Unfortunately, despite being lifted up by a gleefully deranged turn from Ben Whishaw, there's little else going on.

Whishaw plays Joseph, a meek Stansted Airport worker silently enduring the monotonous routine of patting down travellers. In truth, he’s pretty unremarkable, as evidenced by his colleagues who don’t even realise that it’s his birthday. But there’s a simmering anxiety underneath, propelled by Whishaw’s jittery frame, and a foreboding dread that culminates in an explosive shift that sees Joseph try his hand at violence and crime.

His subtle descent is punctuated by clever sound design that pierces right through you. From the endless chatter of tourists to the unsettling noise of Joseph’s teeth grinding against a glass, this cacophony rings like tinnitus. It’s irritating – and that’s a compliment. For a while, you understand his frustration, however unclear it may be. How else can you silence the noise than scream louder?

Joseph proceeds to run around London causing mayhem to anyone that dare stand in his way. When his card stops working, he robs a bank by pretending to have a gun. Why? Who knows. Because he can, perhaps. You can draw comparisons to Spree, a similarly mononymous thriller about a man on a destructive quest. But at least with the Joe Keery-starring take on the worst Uber ride ever, you could identify the statement it was making about viral fame. It’s not as easy to decode a message here.

Maybe the film is making a statement on white, male entitlement. To see how far they can get away with recklessness. How individuals can be driven to breaking point because a system designed to lift them up isn’t fulfilling its purpose. But then it feels like I’m ascribing meaning to something that isn’t as substantial as it purports to be. There’s a difference between leaving things up to interpretation and being vague and empty.

Even at just 105 minutes, Surge stretches itself thin. Evidently, there’s only so much havoc you can cause before it tires you out. Nonetheless, Whishaw is endlessly compelling in a radical turn from the prim and proper roles he’s excelled at over the years (suffice to say, it’s a far cry from Paddington). Despite Whishaw's truly unhinged showcase, Surge falls flat as a character study. If nothing else, it’s a mesmerising exercise in causing as much discomfort as possible.

Surge was screened as part of the Glasgow Film Festival 2021. It will be released in the UK on 28 May. For more festival info, visit our dedicated page. You can buy tickets here.