Novocaine (2025) [4K Ultra HD]

Directors: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen

Cast: Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson

Release Date: June 24, 2025

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 8.5/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) was born with a rare genetic disorder, where he can’t feel any pain. When the girl of his dreams (Amber Midthunder) is taken hostage in a bank heist, he turns his inability to feel physical pain into an unexpected strength in the fight to get her back.

‘Novocaine’ invites you to meet Nathan Caine, a kindhearted man working at a bank who suffers from a rare genetic disorder that keeps him from feeling any pain; an affliction that’s limited his life in countless ways. But when he finds the girl of his dreams in a coworker and the two promptly hit it off, it sends his life for a twist when a group of armed men dressed in Santa costumes rob the bank and kill his boss as well as taking his dream girl as a hostage. Refusing to give up on his one shot at happiness, Nathan sets out on a dangerous quest to track down the robbers and save the girl, with increasingly problematic results.

Directed by Dan Berk & Robert Olsen (Significant Other, Villains) from a screenplay written by Lars Jacobson (Day of the Dead: Bloodline), Berk & Olsen do a splendid job at the helm of ‘Novocaine’ guiding along the brutal, tense and darkly funny ride with style. The film’s cast includes Jack Quaid (Companion), Amber Midthunder (Prey), Ray Nicholson (Smile 2), Betty Gabriel (It Lives Inside), Matt Walsh (TV’s Ghosts) and Jacob Batalon (Tarot) along with more and the majority each provide solid and capable performances for the most part in their respective roles.

‘Novocaine’ is a tense, brutal and at times unexpectedly sweet good time that manages to cleverly blend numerous genres together and send viewers on a gnarly and unapologetic ride into chaos and pain (well, at least for the viewer even if not so much for the lead character himself) as things become increasingly hectic and bloody along the way. It takes what begins as a fairly by the book story and then manages to find one smart way after another to twist it up and leave viewers somewhat uncertain of what is going on as everything continues to propel violently along with a few twists and turns to nicely shake things up and keep us on our toes.

It utilizes dark and dreary environments that almost seem to let Nathan’s mood seep into the surroundings and allow the viewer to better understand his desperation and determination as he refuses to relent in his quest to rescue this woman who he has developed strong feelings for in a relatively brief amount of time. Even as everything about Nathan’s mission goes astray and one dangerous and violent confrontation leads to another, he never contemplates giving up, even as he is brutalized and harmed in the most unpleasant ways imaginable, taking a barrage of attacks without flinching due to his affliction almost in the manner of a Looney Tunes character and it helps to add a unique and often darkly hilarious edge to the whole ride that only seems to make it all the more enjoyable.

Overall, ‘Novocaine’ delivers a solid, violent and funny adventure that’s as brutal and unsettling at times as it is sweet and darkly hilarious, with notable performances by leads Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder that keep the fun and excitement moving along smoothly at every twist and turn. ‘Novocaine’ is highly recommended for anyone that typically enjoys a violent ride that cleverly blends action, romance and dark comedy throughout, as well as anyone that might be a fan of leads Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder. It’s a fun, tense and massively entertaining movie that is far better than many might expect and if you’re already even slightly intrigued it should be well worth your time and the price of a rental. The film is also streaming on Paramount+ for subscribers as of the time of this writing for those with the service who would prefer not to purchase or rent.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Novocaine’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks very nice as a whole and offers a clean, sharp and well-detailed presentation from start to finish that never suffers from any issues or faults to be located along the way. Detail is great on characters, vehicles and surroundings, and black levels are pleasantly deep, rich and clean. The Dolby Vision HDR does slightly enhance some blood and other tidbits, although not nearly as much as some HDR utilized films due to the intentionally darker, less colorful surroundings utilized throughout. Overall, this is a solid Ultra High Definition presentation that holds up nicely throughout and should please fans and first time viewers alike.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack delivers a clean, crisp and occasionally quite immersive audio presentation throughout. It takes advantage of all seven available channels in order to send some music, action effects and more throughout the various speakers when fitting, while never allowing any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously to become negatively affected or rendered problematic. Overall, this is a fully capable Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that may not be a constant whirlwind of activity but definitely delivers in every way required of it.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Novocaine’ features a few entertaining extras in the way of Behind the Scenes Featurettes that explore bringing the film to life and feature interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are ‘Prepare for Pain: Pre-Production’ (running approximately 13 minutes in length), ‘A World of Hurt: Production’ (running approximately 16 minutes) and ‘Maximum Physical Damage: Makeup Effects’ (approximately 9 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc included in the 4K UHD Combo Pack and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 8.5/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘Novocaine’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Combo Pack, Limited Edition 4K UHD Steelbook, DVD & Digital from Paramount Home Entertainment

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You can purchase ‘Novocaine’ on 4K UHD at Amazon HERE!

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