The best Smart DNS for watching movies abroad.
Let me preface this by saying that I’m a fan of The Boys. Heck, the Prime Video series is responsible for most of my initial appreciation for Jack Quaid. I point this out because I want to make it clear, I’m no stranger to on-screen gore (including some really weird, really gross things happening to people on that show). Yet, there were parts of Novocaine that I absolutely could not look directly at. Or if I did, I had to watch through my fingers to ensure that I could spare myself any visual that might haunt me forever. And, this new action movie had a few of those.
Make no mistake though, I loved the movie and I absolutely adored seeing it in the theater. But I have a limit for icky things on screen and this movie found it.
It’s at this point that I’ll say that, while I will not be discussing plot spoilers about Novocaine (like how it ends or who survives, etc), I do reference a few things that happen in the movie at one point.
So. Gross.
I think the best way to talk about the kind of on-screen injury I can and can’t handle is to compare a certain scene from Home Alone to a certain scene from Violent Night (spoiler alert for both of these movies). You know how in Home Alone, we see Marv’s feet walking up the tar-covered basement stairs, and he eventually steps on the nail Kevin set up on one of the upper steps? That scene is right on the line for me. We know the nail is there as he’s walking toward it, and we do see Marv’s tar-coated foot as he steps down on the nail for just a moment before it cuts to his horrified reaction. There’s no blood and there’s only just the slightest amount of stepping down shown to ensure we know that nail went in. The anticipation of the inevitable is almost the hardest part of the whole sequence. I cringe every time, but I also laugh every time.
In Violent Night, little Trudy’s adorably horrifying attempts to mimic Kevin’s Home Alone booby traps result in a lot of intensely graphic injuries for the bad guys, including one of the villains stumbling while climbing the booby-trapped ladder to the attic, which causes his chin to come down on a nail, which goes straight through and protrudes from the inside of his mouth as he screams. Good God, that scene haunts me. Especially the way he’s just sort of stuck like that and it feels like forever. It’s funny, yes, but it’s burned into my mind. Also, it does not hold back like Marv’s foot-nail scene kind of does.
I am not criticizing Violent Night. I love that movie too. But that injury is the kind of scene that causes my hands to reflexively cover my face. Novocaine had some scenes like that.
Show me Jack Quaid getting an arrow shot through his leg, or even a knife thrown through his hand? Gross, but I can watch.
Show him trying to dig a bullet out of his own arm, or that scene with the finger nails? Absolutely not.
Novocaine makes us watch when something like that is happening, and it seems intent on lingering on the scene long enough for us to really process what’s happening. Quaid’s character is put through the wringer in this movie and we may not feel his injuries, but we’re most definitely going to see them happen.
Again, this is weirdly not a complaint or a criticism about the movie, because it’s horrifying and darkly funny, which makes total sense for the story. Watering it down or cutting away would feel all wrong for the tone of the film, which leans all the way into its R-rating in that respect. But did I have a lot of reactions during this film? Yes, yes I did. That brings me to the other point…
I’m Glad I Saw It In A Theater
Seeing a movie in the theater isn’t always going to be one of the things I remember most about seeing the film at all. However, there are some movies that are just made to be seen with other people. The movies where you let out a vocal reaction, feel temporarily embarrassed for probably being audible beyond the seats near you, then realize that half or more of the room also made some kind of noise during that part. I love that. Novocaine was that kind of experience for me, and it was so much fun for that reason.
I caught the “Adrenaline Rush Screening” that took place at my local theater last Saturday, and there was a decent-sized group of people in the room for this early preview. This is a movie that’s made for reactions, whether it’s the gasping kind or the laughing kind (or sometimes a bit of both). I was glad I got to enjoy (or cringe at) the big scenes in this movie with other people. That definitely added a bit more to my enjoyment of the film. We were all in it together, and that really enhanced the experience.
Was it occasionally too gross for me to look directly at? Yes. But as I said, I thought it was great regardless. Experiencing all of it with other people is definitely part of what I’ll remember about the movie. Definitely glad I made it one of the 2025 movie releases I caught in theaters.
Eric landed at 3 stars with his review for Novocaine, and other critics have weighed in on it as well. I’d love to see it do well at the box office, but we’ll see! Either way, I’m glad the movie has already achieved Certified Fresh status at Rotten Tomatoes.