For a while, it looked as though Nicolas Cage was content to coast through as many formulaic and identikit VOD action thrillers as possible, not dissimilar to Bruce Willis’ current trajectory. He’d turn up, do the bare minimum and go home with a paycheck, but over the last few years something appears to have clicked inside the Academy Award winner’s head, with Cage now signing on to as many insane projects as possible that make great use of his very singular acting style.
Bonkers horror comedy Mom and Dad saw him destroy a pool table in a fit of murderous rage while yelling out the hokey pokey at the top of his lungs, Mandy and Color Out of Space were wild existential fantasy horrors, Willy’s Wonderland had him trapped in a haunted amusement park battling animatronics possessed by the spirits of a Satanic cult, Jiu Jitsu was a bizarre sci-fi martial arts actioner, Prisoners of the Ghostland traps him in a parallel universe with explosives strapped to his nuts and the upcoming The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a self-aware meta action comedy with Cage playing himself as a jobbing actor who gets drawn into the world of birthday parties, drug cartels and the CIA.
It’s been fascinating to watch unfold, and Netflix have now added one of his crazier recent efforts to the library. 2018’s Between Worlds stars Cage as a truck driver haunted by the memory of his late wife and child. After meeting a spiritualist, he discovers that his dead wife has possessed a young woman’s body and embarked on a quest for revenge.
It was largely panned by critics, but it’ll be appointment viewing for Netflix subscribers with a penchant for watching the leading man cut loose in the sort of trashy B-movie that lends itself perfectly to Nicolas Cage doing Nicolas Cage stuff.
