The 10 best new Nicolas Cage movies to watch at home

Massive’s Unbearable Mass TalentIt might appear to casual viewers that this movie is Nicolas Cage’s last real one. This isn’t the case; in 2021, he starred in three, while in 2019, he toplined half a dozen. The meta-comedy is still a good idea. Huge talentCage’s first live-action large release in 10 years is titled “The Comeback of the Actor” and features him as an actor desperate for his comeback.

It is true, it was the most recent Pig made it to nearly 600 theaters, he’s done voice-over for some bona fide theatrical hits, and technically, Don’t Be Left BehindIt briefly was seen on 1200 screens in 2014 when it first debuted. The last time Cage movies were supported by an extensive, large-scale advertising campaign was in 2014. Spirit of Vengeance – Ghost RiderIn 2012. By that point, he already had one foot in the limited release/direct-to-video world — which is where he stayed for most of the 10 years that followed, with occasional forays into arthouse cinema. Many of the 30-plus movies he made during this period are not worth your time; they’re low-rent paycheck gigs that have little to recommend them beyond Cage’s signature commitment. It’s no accident that Huge talentHe has the time to list a lot of Cage quotes from his career but doesn’t bother to name anything from his last decade. Cage films that no one has seen, even. Captain Corelli’s MandolinIt is an easier reference point that many of the recent Cage movies, which sound pretty much like one movie (Rage; Get angry; Vengeance: Love Story; There are many ways to settle).

So does this mean casual fans whose interest in the star has been reawakened by the new movie should skip over Cage’s past decade of work? Actually, no! Actually, no!

The best Cage movies from this era take advantage of the freedom afforded an actor who has lost his status as a major-studio leading man, fitting his performance style into more intimate roles, or genres that don’t receive much studio attention. As his early studio films featured gentle comedy and high-ticket action and sci-fi, the more recent Cage movies include character studies, crime-shooting and horror. Many of his films are about a man who struggles to preserve his dignity or sanity amid crumbling institutions. Many of these performances carry a sense of loss, and of fighting through the pain — while still somehow making his characters cathartic and even fun to watch. It’s more clear than ever that Cage is taking solace in acting itself.

So let’s take a look at 10 movies from Cage’s decade in streaming that are worth catching up with — plus a few side notes about the sometimes interesting, sometimes awful movies some of these titles resemble. For the curious: This is a list that goes from most important to least. An unbearable weight It would be somewhere between 7 and 8.

1. Joe (2013)

Image: Roadside Attractions

It’s possible Cage’s work in Joe He may not be as good, but it is possible to eclipse his performance, which appears superficially very similar, in PigHe also lives in a rural setting and is bearded, intense, as well as being very active. But David Gordon Green’s movie is a high point for both the idiosyncratic director and his brilliant star. As the title character, a haunted man who becomes an uneasy mentor for a teenager (Tye Sheridan) who works for him on an illicit tree-poisoning job, Cage coils some of the signature “Cage Rage” that made him an uneasy YouTube fixture by the early 2010s, turning his character’s violent past into a simmering, implicit threat. Yet this performance isn’t pure restraint, either. Green (who is himself seen in Huge talentIt is possible, however JoeIt is great for actors to have space and freedom to improvise in the desolate settings. This can lead them into some truly memorable scenes. Joe’s (and Cage’s) best moments. In one scene, he explains how to make a “cool face,” which involves letting through an anguished expression, then attempting to smile on top of it. It’s a lovely character moment — and a handy description of Cage’s best recent work.

Joe It is possible to view it Cinemax,For purchase or digital rental on VOD platforms.

2. Pig (2021)

Photo by Neon

JoeIt received positive feedback, but PigCage’s return to good graces with critics and audiences was helped by the fact that he had to drop a summer movie program due the pandemic. (It wasn’t a huge hit even by arthouse standards, but it became Cage’s most-seen live-action movie in ages.) Cage is a retired chef, who now lives alone in Oregon with his trusted pig. Alex Wolff is his truffle buyer and he joins Cage to pursue the thieves who attacked him and stole the pig. This sounds like an unusual variation of old-man revenge action movies. Instead, Michael Sarnoski created a touching meditation on love and loss.

Pig It is possible to view it Hulu.

3. The Trust (2016)

Image: Saban Films

The optimist’s dream when exploring Cage’s DTV catalog is to find filmmakers taking advantage of a lower-stakes distribution to make the kind of tight, small-scale genre exercise that’s fallen out of favor in today’s B-movies-as-A-list landscape. That’s exactly what directors Ben and Alex Brewer did with The Trust, a noir-ish heist picture with Cage and Elijah Wood as cops attempting to rob a drug dealer’s unguarded safe. The Brewers have done most of their work in music videos, and it’s surprising that this nifty, funny little thriller didn’t propel them into more features. Cage’s live-wire energy, his work opposite Wood, and the movie’s sense of humor about its own detail-oriented heist mechanics combine for an unusually pleasing and dynamic B movie.

Do not confuse with: 212Another cops-and-crooks movie about bank robbery. It has interwoven storylines, but is a bit amateurish and doesn’t stand out from other Redbox movies.

The Trust It is free to view with advertisements Tubi, Pluto TV, PlexPlease see the following: Roku Channel.

4. Mandy (2018)

Photo: RLJE Films

Between the years JoeAnd Pig, another single-word title about a man on the outskirts of society forced to confront his own grief and rage became the go-to “this is the good one” Nic Cage movie. The film was a success. MandyThis is one of the rare Cage movies from later periods that might be overhyped. But it’s also quite good, a horrific and sometimes phantasmagorical revenge thriller from director Panos Cosmatos. You might also like Pig, it takes details that sound like self-parodying ridiculousness — Cage gets into a climactic chainsaw duel! — and treats them with surprising and effective gravity. Cage uses a crucial scene in mid-movie to sell us on the importance of stabbings and beheadings. Mandy Sometimes, the horror of it can make you feel a little more infatuated than the characters. This is why JoeAndPig They are equally satisfying. But it’s a terrific use of Cage’s go-anywhere intensity.

Mandy It is possible to view it ShakeAMC+ and free ads PlexYou can also get a free library card. Hoopla.

5. Mother and Father (2018)

Image: Momentum Pictures

Cage’s last big theatrical release as a headliner was Spirit of Vengeance – Ghost RiderThe under-appreciated sequel to the superhero series “The Avengers” Crank Neveldine/Taylor were the filmmakers. Brian Taylor went solo for Mother and FatherThe horror comedy “The Signal” is about parents who are triggered by a staticky signal and feel the uncontrollable urge to murder their children. Selma Blair and Cage play the two parents who are afflicted by the signals. Their relationship with their children (one teenager, one tween), is strained to the point of being irreparable. Taylor, as with other films, takes some self-satisfaction in his transgressions.Mama and Papa isn’t as visually kinetic as a Neveldine/Taylor joint. Cage plays a key role in this success: He plants his darkly comic freak-outs with real regret and pathos.

Do not confuse with: Don’t Be Left BehindThe attempt to revive the Christian film franchise also includes an unanticipated mass disaster. Any hopes that Cage might work this material into a campy lather are dashed by the movie’s low-budget listlessness.

Mother and Father It is possible to view it Starz,You can also rent or buy digitally on VOD platforms.

6. 2021 Prisoners of The Ghostland

Image: RLJE Films

This sci-fi horror-western from Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono doesn’t need to surpass its obvious postapocalyptic influences — the Max Max series; Escape New York — to offer a singular experience. Cage takes on a Snake Plissken role as a criminal released from prison so that the “governor” (a corrupt leader) can send him into a wasteland to retrieve one of his “granddaughters” (members of a harem), played by the always-delightful Sofia Boutella. Despite that propulsive premise — and the fact that Cage’s Hero has a series of bombs strapped to various body parts, including his testicles — Ghostland prisonersThis film has more atmosphere than exploitation-movie or hardcore action. It’s more weird hallucination than visceral extravaganza, which makes Sono’s vision (and Cage’s part in it) seem more genuinely idiosyncratic in the face of countless dystopian pastiches. Note to viewers, before you decide to jump in: Sono has been accused of several sexual assaults.

Also see: Willy’s WonderlandIt was published at the exact same time as that Ghostland was debuting at Sundance 2021, and they’re easy to superficially confuse — and not just because they both end in “land.” Both films feel like they’re particularly aware of what an asset Cage can be for a lurid, low-budget, or offbeat thriller. Willy’s WonderlandThe video game is knocked out by. Five Nights at Freddy’sCage gets a role as an observer in this movie. Cage, who is a silent stranger, must fight against the demonically possessed animatronics of a Chuck E. Cheese establishment. The movie itself is slapdash, but Cage’s performance is a hoot, muting his signature verbal outbursts and California-fried delivery without quashing his charisma.

Ghostland prisoners It is possible to view it ShakeAMC Plus, as well as for digital purchase or rental on VOD platforms. Willy’s Wonderland It is possible to view it Hulu.

7. Outcast (2015)

Image: Entertainment One

This American-Canadian-Chinese co-production is ill-advised in many ways — and surprisingly entertaining in many others. Cage appears as an actor supporting the role of a Crusades soldier, who calls on his commander Hayden Christensen (the American-Canadian-Chinese coproduction) to end senseless murder. They meet up again many years later as Chinese exiles. The younger man protects a princess and prince who are fleeing their murderous brother. Outcast is a historical document — not of the Crusades or medieval China, but rather of how GladiatorThis influence continues to be felt in movies fifteen years after it was released. Nick Powell, Director of the Academy even performed some combat work. Gladiator His experience in coordination of stunts on many blockbuster movies prepared him to create a fast-paced and highly credible action movie. However, Anakin Skywalker’s moves are better than those of his more prominent co-star. The DTV competitor isn’t the only thing it has. Outcast looks a lot more lush — real locations, real sets, real stunt work — than plenty of big-ticket Hollywood productions, few of which have Cage hamming it up as warrior gone to seed with guilt, regret, and a slashed-up eye.

Also see: PrimalCage (2019) sees Powell and Cage reunited for a pulpy thriller. It is about Cage, a big-game hunter mercenary (Cage), battling off against Kevin Durand (Kevin Durand), as well as deadly animals aboard a boat. Similar films Outcast, it’s well-paced and fun without resorting to cheap camp affectations. It’s probably more satisfying than the next three movies on this list, though they offer a little more eclecticism and gravity as far as later-period Cage roles go.

Outcast It is possible to view it Prime VideoYou can also get it for nothing with the ads TubiAnd Pluto TV. Primal It is possible to view it EpixYou can also rent or buy digitally on VOD platforms.

8. Dying of the Light (2013)

Lionsgate image

Apart from his early work with his uncle Francis Ford Coppola, Nicolas Cage doesn’t have a lot of directors he can count as repeat collaborators. The technical director who was his most consistent collaborator has been Paul Schrader, the man behind the wonderful “The Amazing Spider-Man.” The Last Call for the Dead). Unfortunately, they missed each other’s respective comebacks; both of their movies together came before Schrader’s The First Reform or Cage’s MandyBoth were dropped in 2018 The Dying of the LightSchrader lost the film after production. Cage and Anton Yelchin did not approve of the final cut. It’s easy to understand why: It does, indeed, feel like a weird compromise between a junky DTV thriller and a more contemplative Schrader-style psychological study. Schrader also released a working print version to be distributed in a handful of museums and via torrenting. Yet there’s plenty to like about The Dying of the LightCage plays a career CIA officer who races to track down a suspected terrorist to save his life before he becomes progressively dementia-prone. Heady stuff, and yet there are moments of real sweetness between Cage and Yelchin — whose biographical documentary Cage would narrate after the younger actor’s untimely passing.

Do not confuse with (and/or also see?): Dog Eat Dog(2016). Cage & Schrader later reunited for this one. This one is obviously less compromised — and maybe it should have been, just a little? It’s a night-black comedy-thriller about a group of criminals bumbling violently through a big job, and despite giving Cage one of his most formidable recent screen partners in Willem Dafoe, the grotesque unpleasantness reaches a number of dead ends. Cage or Schrader/Dafoe enthusiasts might be interested in it.

The Dying of the Light It is free to view with advertisements Pluto TVOr with a Kanopy library card Dog Eat Dog It is also available digitally for rental and purchase via VOD platforms.

9. Color Out of Space 2019

Image: RLJE Films

A H.P. Lovecraft short story would be adapted. An adaptation of a H.P. Lovecraft short story could threaten to overshadow many actors including some of the movie’s cast. Cage, however, can comfortably compete with the psychedelic gore of this horror story, where a mysterious alien being/substance lands on a remote (if well-appointed) family property and proceeds to gradually tear a family apart — sometimes by pushing them together in grotesque and horrifying ways. It is an eye-opening experience. You can color out of space goes far beyond the realm of most low-budget made-mostly-for-streaming projects, with pink-purple tones and some gnarly practical effects. As a “character-driven drama” — something Cage-as-Cage purports to want in Huge talent — it’s admittedly pretty lacking. The sound-and-light performance, which fuses grim entertainment with genuine anguish, is its greatest star.

You can color out of space It is possible to view it ShakeAMC+ is also available as a digital rental, or for purchase through VOD platforms.

10. Between Worlds (2018)

Lionsgate image

A number of Cage’s VOD movies, like others that employ former superstars, feel like they’re approximating a lost thriller from the star’s heyday on a discounted budget. However, the strange and simultaneously cheapness of these movies makes them seem odd. The Difference Between WorldsThis gives it an enigmatic integrity. The ghostly and sexually charged drama of a trucker who is grieving (Cage), and his mother Franka Potente, who has beyond-the-veil powers (Franka Potente), cannot be mistaken for anything else. Cage’s filmmaking is intentionally jaggedly dull, and Potente’s performances feel almost spontaneous. Even the most dedicated of fans will struggle to endure this one. It might be difficult for some people to consider it enjoyable. However, anyone with overlapping appreciation for Cage’s work in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart and Potente’s work in The Warrior and the PrincessYou might be interested in this.

Do not confuse with: Grand IsleAnother gory melodram with Cage-like performances, but grounded ultimately by more traditional budget-noir trappings.

The Difference Between Worlds It is possible to view it Netflix.