REVIEW: "Novocaine" (2025)

WRITER'S NOTE: The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on April 4, 2025. 

Known for his work on the Prime superhero series The Boys, as well as horror features like Scream and Companion, Jack Quaid headlines this genre-bending action-romantic-comedy about an introverted bank clerk named Nathan Caine, who has a rare-but-very-real condition where he can’t feel pain. His life changes when he falls for a pretty coworker named Sherry (Amber Midthunder). But when his bank is robbed (led by Ray Nicholson) and Sherry is taken as a hostage, Nathan goes on a risky mission to find and rescue her, becoming an unlikely hero—though he is in way over his head, and risking his own health and safety for another. 

Readers and viewers should know up front that Novocaine is a violent and profane movie. More accurately, it pushes the envelope of graphic visuals and macabre sensibilities. There are some scenes of policemen being gunned down, while the main criminals are apparently rebellious without a cause. But the main draw is how Nathan endures numerous injuries and grisly, bodily effects without feeling any of it. This includes wince-inducing moments involving everything from a broken baseball bat to shards of glass in a character’s bloodied fists, and fingernails getting plied off. It’s almost as if the filmmakers want us to look away and give us time to. 

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Novocaine features homages or references to Die Hard and Home Alone (all set during Christmas time, oddly enough). Like those classic movies, Novocaine is undoubtedly, brilliantly constructed. Not to mention a very effective, linear, and well-paced plot with well-rounded dynamics (the screenplay was written by Lars Jacobson) and well-directed action (courtesy duo Dan Berk & Robert Olsen). Still, it makes me wonder what this movie says about our culture being so desensitized by onscreen violence. True, this is a movie. And therefore, its main character does things that people with the same condition (known as CIPA) shouldn’t do. Those same people may easily find Novocaine extremely squeamish. That goes just as well for general viewers. 

And yet, as far-fetched and heightened as it is, there is a surprising level of strange poignancy, with an engaging narrative and thematic undertone throughout. Nathan Caine may feel no physical pain, but he is affected emotionally. As he says, "If you don’t have anybody to care about, it’s harder to get hurt." Quaid and Midthunder (who was awesome in Prey) have a natural chemistry and genuine romance. Ditto Quaid’s dynamic with Jacob Batalon (as “gaming buddy” Roscoe). All three subvert any expectations viewers may have about genre tropes, including heroes, villains, sidekicks, and their objectives. 

The film highlights how these characters deal with childhood trauma (whether bullying or abuse in general), mental health, loneliness, and other moral dilemmas and consciousness. (The film practically opens with rock band R.E.M.’s somber track, “Everybody Hurts.”) The symbolism of tattoos and scars (both self-made) represent forms of storytelling about pasts and futures, for better or worse. “Everybody is hiding something,” one character tells us, “I think we’re just looking for somebody we can show it to.” 

Beyond those examples of physical harm, Novocaine sheds light on the consequences of wrong choices and dark secrets. It also incorporates elements of medieval mythology and some general revelation, with surprising examples of sacrificial love and even grace. “You know what it’s like to wait your whole life to meet someone,” Nate asks, “Someone who changes everything, gives your life meaning?” (Sound familiar?) Not that he himself is a Christ-figure or anything. Far from it. Even so, how incredible it is that such a graphic and wince-inducing action movie can carry such thematic and emotional weight. Die Hard did. 

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