Novocaine review: A hilarious and heartful thrill-ride

Paramount Pictures has unveiled an instant action-comedy classic with the 2025 blockbuster Novocaine. Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen (Significant Other), this movie follows Jack Quaid (The Boys) as a mild-mannered banker with congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) who pursues a group of robbers to rescue the woman he loves.

Featuring a unique concept and a talented cast, Novocaine uses a real-life disorder to deliver a gruesome and imaginative action film filled with slapstick humor and poignant drama. In an age where cinema is all but saturated by formulaic action flicks, Novocaine comes in and sets another high precedent for the genre.

The performances

Jack Quaid brings another action/comedy hero icon to life with his performance as Nathan Caine, a.k.a. Novocaine. Quaid’s success in this role is not surprising, as he has thrived playing the dorky and lovable everyman in several projects, particularly The Boys. At the same time, Amber Midthunder continues to cement herself as one of cinema’s rising stars playing Sherry in Novocaine. Her layered performance makes her a fantastic lead opposite Quaid, and their on-screen chemistry makes them both the perfect couple.

Likewise, actor Ray Nicholson nails his performance as the Joker-esque bank robber/murderer Simon Greenly. The sadistic glee he takes in causing death and torment shows his true potential in portraying menacing figures following his breakout role in Smile 2. Jacob Batolon also deserves credit for his performance as Roscoe, bringing plenty of comic relief with the sharp quips and perfect timing he’s displayed as Ned Leeds in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies.

The characters

Novocaine presents Nathan as an unconventional superhero thanks to his real-life disorder. While he is immune to pain, he is afraid of hurting himself with the ways he tries to avoid damaging his body by accident. Fortunately, Sherry helps him break out of his shell, with a simple taste of pie helping him live life to the fullest, making for an inspiring and well-rounded journey for his character. Overall, Novocaine makes it impossible not to love and route for Nathan with how he helps whoever he can. Even when he’s getting battered around by thugs and bank robbers, he can’t but awkwardly apologize and try to play nice.

Sherry’s character is also noteworthy for how she defies expectations. She could’ve been just another superhero movie love interest for Nathan. Instead, Novocaine presents her as a conflicted woman with depression seeking redemption rather than another damsel in distress. With the revelation that she was in on the bank robbery, Novocaine flips the story on its head as Nathan finds himself trying to save a woman who deceived him. Nevertheless, as Sherry tries to do good and save Nathan, Novocaine gives her character agency as she takes the wheel to make this story hers, just as much as it is Nathan’s.

An inventive, bloody story

There’s no doubt that Novocaine is meticulous with its storytelling. The film exploits every little detail to deliver a surprising and creative film, particularly when it comes to its fight scenes. Taking advantage of his insensitivity to pain, Nathan utilizes everything at his disposal to dish out some inventive kills. These creative moments includes forcing an arrow through his leg into a robber’s skull and impaling Simon with his own exposed arm bone.

The violence in this movie can be gratuitous at times, with images of broken bones and ripped-out fingernails threatening to upset more squeamish viewers. Fortunately, Nathan’s condition helps bring levity to such visceral moments in the vein of Ryan Reynolds’s Deadpool. It’s not often that a character is happy to let someone torture them as they stall for time, and Quaid’s fake cries of pain make such a gory moment flat-out hilarious.

Is Novocaine worth seeing?

Most definitely. Novocaine is more than just another gory action movie. It’s a layered and well-crafted story exploring how people hide their true selves and the challenges they face, whether it’s Nathan’s insensitivity to pain or Sherry’s history of depression and self-harm. The film balances its more grounded drama with plenty of hysterical and heart-pounding moments.

Overall, Novocaine reminds viewers that there is plenty of room for fresh, original action films in modern cinema. Nathan Caine stands out from Marvel and DC movies as a unique kind of superhero, and it would be quite a welcome treat to see more of him in this new action-comedy franchise. Novocaine may be difficult for some viewers to swallow, but action genre fans will undoubtedly enjoy this ultraviolent feast of a film.