Novocaine, a movie released March 14th, 2025, has brought in the least amount of money on its release weekend, amounting to only 8 million dollars. Although that amount of money sounds not-so-trivial, the average movie on its release date weekend will bring in about $100 million. So, why did the film do so poorly? Was it marketing, or simply the substance of the movie? 

Novocaine follows a main character named Nathan Caine. Nathan Caine is a young male protagonist. He is kind, compassionate, nerdy, and many other positive things. However, he wields one major and uncontrollable flaw: Nathan Caine cannot feel pain. So, when a girl he falls in love with gets kidnapped during a bank robbery, Nathan will push his body to his limits to try and save her. The movie is an action/adventure film and rated R for its graphic violence, body horror, and sexual imagery. So where did the movie go wrong? 

Novocaine displays very good qualities, such as extremely unexpected angles during every fight scene. From sticking his hand into a deep fryer, and getting severe burns to shoving an arrow through his thigh to penetrate the neck of his enemy, Nathan Caine put his body through extreme trauma to save the girl he has fallen for. Another major selling point of the movie was the shocking ability of Nathan Caine. For someone who has never fought before, Nathan has quite an arm on him, knocking down all his enemies in very clever but physically tolling ways. 

It was mentioned earlier that Nathan Caine goes on the adventure he does to save a girl, so who is this girl? Sherry Margrave, played by Amber Midthunder, is a bank teller from work who connected personally with Nathan Caine. His ability to open up to her was outstanding and relieving. He allowed himself to grow comfortable with her, in more ways than one, and fell in love in less than a day. So when Sherry was kidnapped by bank robbers, Nathan began his adventure to save her. The plot twist that Sherry holds is a major plot point of Novocaine. That Sherry was meant to be kidnapped, the bank robbers were people close to her, and it was all a ploy for money. We learn this as the audience shortly after Nathan begins his fatal adventure. 

Cinematography and set design of this movie was very excellently crafted. From something as subtle as exceptional lighting, changing and shifting between moods of the characters realistically, to a flipped ambulance on its side being a scene for a massive fight scene, this movie executes unique filming techniques well. 

The body horror in Novocaine is also done extremely well. It makes the audience squeamish and cringe, due to the amount of pain Nathan Caine puts his body through. 

The major criticism I have for this film is the unimportance the plot had to me. I did build genuine connections with the characters. The movie was also poorly advertised, which most likely led to it doing poorly on the opening weekend. I would recommend this movie to people who enjoy action/thriller movies and give it a rating of 3/5.