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The film鈥檚 setting is decidedly modern 鈥� Cage pulls up in a Lexus, pays for a coffee with his phone and tries repeatedly to secure funds for the $1.7 million house 鈥� which stands in stark contrast to the age-old questions about tribalism, revenge and familial trauma probed in Lorcan Finnegan鈥檚 claustrophobic thriller.

Ahead of the Roadside Attractions release on Friday, Cage and Finnegan spoke with The Associated Press about the film鈥檚 surrealism, why violence is 鈥渙ne of the backbones of cinema鈥� and how Humphrey Bogart inspired a scene where Cage shoves a rat in someone鈥檚 face. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

AP: Nicolas, we spoke, you talked about how Hollywood thinks naturalism is the arbiter of great acting but that you appreciate when you can explore other forms. Where does that impulse stem from?

CAGE: It was a feeling of not wanting to get trapped or calcified in the realm of artwork and thinking that the art that I admired in painters like Francis Bacon or in music, a lot of it was surrealistic. And so in my view, if there鈥檚 such a thing as art synthesis, why can鈥檛 you do it with acting? You can do it with acting, but it still has to land with the director and with the script in such a way where it moves the story forward and doesn鈥檛 become self-indulgent. It has to be a twist and a unique point of expression that evolves the story.

So how do you do that? Well, if the guy鈥檚 losing his mind, that鈥檚 one way. Then you can get a bit more abstract with facial expressions or voice. Or if the guy is on drugs, that鈥檚 one way, like 鈥淏ad Lieutenant.鈥� In this case, the surfer is having a bit of a breakdown. It only stands to reason in a natural, authentic way that he would shriek-eat the rat and shove it into some guy鈥檚 mouth because it鈥檚 been earned. But that鈥檚 not to say that the naturalism of the ‘70s isn鈥檛 great. It is great. And that鈥檚 something I enjoy doing as well.

AP: Talk about the film’s exploration of masculinity and tribalism.

FINNEGAN: To me, it wasn鈥檛 a film about toxic masculinity. I mean, there was elements of masculinity in crisis, and that鈥檚 something that does exist. But to me it was serving the story in a way because Nick鈥檚 character had to have this counter in this Scally character (Julian McMahon). Nick鈥檚 character lost his father when he was young and he was searching for some sort of belonging and that鈥檚 why he was thinking if he buys back this house and this materialistic goal will fix his relationship problems and stuff. So Julian鈥檚 character offers up something different. He鈥檚 kind of seductive. If you want to be in our gang and you want to be part of this culture, you have to do all of these things.

I think a lot of those figures in the world of toxic masculinity are a bit like that. They鈥檙e charming. A lot of the time they have these philosophical ideas and they鈥檙e well-read, so they seem very attractive to these guys who are kind of lost. So, I didn鈥檛 want the film though to be about that, but it kind of is baked into the whole story.

AP: Nicolas, you鈥檝e done your share of films with violence in them. Is that something you are interested in?

CAGE: As someone who doesn鈥檛 like violence and actively tries to avoid violence in my life, I would say that it seems to be something that lends itself to cinema. Whatever gets a person to that point of violence is usually fascinating and compelling drama, and that鈥檚 one of the backbones of cinema.

AP: Any scenes stand out as particularly challenging or fun?

FINNEGAN: We discovered some of the humor in the film while making it. When did you think about keeping that rat? I don鈥檛 know if you knew exactly what you were planning yet, but it was a mischievous kind of percolation going on in your mind.

CAGE: I went on a Billy Wilder tear before I went to 鈥淭he Surfer.鈥� I was kind of in bed for a few days, and I was watching movies I wanted to catch up on and I saw 鈥淪abrina.鈥� And in the movie, Bogart pulls an olive out of a martini glass, and he shoves it in his uncle鈥檚 mouth and says, 鈥淓at it.鈥� And I couldn鈥檛 stop laughing. I thought it was the funniest thing. And I was just tickled pink by myself late at night watching it.

And then it came back to me in Australia. I said, 鈥淲ell, I can use this rat for something.鈥� And I tucked it in my pocket. Everyone鈥檚 looking at me like, what鈥檚 Nick doing with the prop rat? I said, 鈥淲ell, I think it鈥檚 funny because the tail is wobbling around. Let鈥檚 hold onto it. It鈥檚 a good prop. Maybe we can use it.鈥� And sure enough, Bogart and Billy Wilder and 鈥淪abrina鈥� came back and it was like 鈥淓at the rat!鈥� It鈥檚 a punk rock version of it, but it鈥檚 still inspired by Billy Wilder and Humphrey Bogart.