MOVIE REVIEW – Making audiences laugh before the opening credits even roll is a tough ask, but Dan Berk and Robert Olsen’s Novocaine manages to land that punchline without breaking a sweat. Starting a movie about a man who can’t feel pain with R.E.M.’s *Everybody Hurts* is such a precisely executed bit of dark humor that it works on multiple levels. Sure, it counts on viewers knowing the concept going in, but once you’re in on the joke, the early moments set up an irresistible premise. At least for a while.

Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) can’t feel pain. That’s not just the movie’s hook, it’s his life — and it’s a life filled with tennis balls strapped to sharp corners, ice cubes in his coffee before he even pours it, and a first-aid kit that’s less precaution and more daily necessity. It’s also a name joke — “Caine,” get it? — that doubles as a cruel nickname and sad punchline for a man whose condition forces him into a bubble-wrapped existence.

Nate has made it this far in life by obsessively playing it safe. His world is one of quiet routines: a modest apartment, a low-stakes job as an assistant bank manager, and a social life so bleak it’s practically grayscale. Screenwriter Lars Jacobson grounds all this in a real medical condition: CIPA (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis), a disorder that demands strict self-monitoring and extreme caution just to make it through the day.

But Nate wants something more than just survival. What he really wants is Sherry — a bubbly, whip-smart bank teller played by the endlessly charming Amber Midthunder, who crashes into his dull routine like a rom-com hurricane. Nate may be physically numb, but emotionally he’s all heart, and when longtime customer Earl (Lou Beatty Jr.) pours his soul out about losing both his wife and his business, Nate finds himself crushed — not just by Earl’s grief, but by the nagging fear that he’ll never feel that kind of love, or that kind of loss, himself.

One Coffee Burn, Two Dates, and a Whole Lot of Tattoos

Careful what you wish for, Nate. Moved by Earl’s story and sick of hiding from life, Nate takes a leap: when Sherry accidentally sneaks up on him and causes him to spill scalding coffee all over his hand (which he doesn’t notice), she insists on making it up to him. One apology lunch becomes two surprise dates — both in the same day — and suddenly Nate’s life takes on a warmth he didn’t know he’d been missing. The two share real connection, and for once, Nate doesn’t feel like a liability. Turns out, under those stiff shirts and awkward demeanor, he’s got a full body’s worth of self-inked, badass tattoos.

The film’s first act is shockingly charming: sweet, funny, smart, and self-aware. It feels like a quirky indie rom-com just waiting to swerve — and swerve it does. Because while Nate doesn’t feel any pain, the audience sure will. Novocaine descends into hyperviolence with a tonal jolt that’s as startling as it is gruesome, bludgeoning viewers with brutality that starts off cartoonish, but quickly becomes disorientingly real. And yes, by the end, you’ll see things you didn’t think a movie like this would show. One particular broken bone gag — we won’t spoil it — is nightmare fuel.

The very next day, just as Nate’s riding high off his life-changing double date, three bank robbers dressed like psychotic Santas bust into the branch. (Yes, this is technically a Christmas movie.) They trash the place, incapacitate the responding cops, and push Nate’s mental state to the brink by taking Sherry hostage. The night before, she told him his condition made him something of a superhero. Now it’s time to prove her right — or die trying. With no training, no real plan, and no physical limits, Nate sets off to rescue the only person who’s ever seen his greatest weakness as something beautiful.

From Emotionally Numb to Killing Machine

The movie’s hook — what if an everyday guy with zero pain receptors had to go full action hero? — remains brilliant in theory. And at first, it’s thrilling to watch Nate bumble his way into badassery. He’s shocked at himself, we’re shocked at him, and it’s entertaining as hell. But then things take a turn. The film swaps clever subversion for over-the-top brawls, and Nate’s condition becomes less a plot point and more a cheat code. We get why Nate can take a beating, but why is every guy he fights built like a pro wrestler on meth with no self-preservation instinct?

Instead of believable criminals, Nate’s foes are cartoonish monsters: three lunatics with machine guns, a heavily inked, neo-Nazi tattooist who looks like he walked out of a Rob Zombie nightmare, and goons who apparently studied advanced torture at villain school. Ray Nicholson shows up in one of the film’s most enjoyable bit parts, chewing scenery like he’s in a grindhouse flick. But Nate’s transformation from sweet loner to rage-fueled wrecking ball doesn’t always track. Quaid sells both sides — the soft-spoken introvert and the brutal ass-kicker — but bridging that gap convincingly? That’s where the seams show.

When the Laughs Stop and the Pain Sets In

If you walk into Novocaine expecting a wild, twisted action ride, it mostly delivers — emphasis on “twisted.” The genre-blending helps ease down some of the clunkier elements, like a plot twist involving Sherry that lands somewhere between unnecessary and huh?, or a police officer (played by Betty Gabriel) whose decisions are so catastrophically bad, they border on parody. Still, for a movie that starts with such a strong grasp on tone, the third act slams into a wall. The cartoon chaos devolves into punishing bleakness, and while Nate can’t feel the blows, we can — emotionally and otherwise. It’s an unrelenting gut punch masquerading as a dark comedy.

All that said, there’s no denying what works here. Quaid proves he can lead an action movie without losing his quirky edge. Midthunder continues her streak as one of the most effortlessly magnetic performers working today. And Berk and Olsen show they’re more than just horror directors — they’ve got vision, even if it gets messy. Next time, let’s hope they give us a finish that lands with a bang instead of a deadened thud. Because Novocaine starts with a shot to the heart, but by the end, you’ll feel nothing but the sting.

-Gergely Herpai “BadSector”-