# Novocaine (2025 film)
*Novocaine* is a 2025 American action comedy directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, written by Lars Jacobson, and starring [Jack Quaid](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-quaid) as Nathan Caine, a San Diego assistant bank manager with a rare genetic condition that prevents him from feeling physical pain. When his co-worker and love interest Sherry ([Amber Midthunder](https://www.edgepedia.org/amber-midthunder)) is taken hostage during a bank robbery, he turns his inability to feel pain into a weapon while pursuing the robbers himself. [Paramount Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount-pictures) released the film in theaters on March 14, 2025.[1](https://paramountglobalcontent.com/title/novocaine) • [2](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/novocaine) • [3](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/prime-video/prime-video-just-added-one-of-the-best-action-movies-of-2025-so-far-and-its-an-adrenaline-fueled-ride)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere | March 14, 2025, released by Paramount Pictures[1](https://paramountglobalcontent.com/title/novocaine) |
| Directors / writer | Dan Berk and Robert Olsen (directors); Lars Jacobson (writer)[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29603959/fullcredits/) |
| Premise | Nathan Caine has congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) and cannot feel pain[2](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/novocaine) • [5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2025/03/12/novocaine-jack-quaid-movie-review/) |
| Rating and length | R, 110 minutes, action/adventure/comedy[2](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/novocaine) |
| Main cast | Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Betty Gabriel, Matt Walsh, and Jacob Batalon[2](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/novocaine) |
| Opening weekend | $8.7 million in 3,365 North American locations, the top film of the weekend[6](https://apnews.com/article/c93df1ff445cf8a930d374f847a51eec) |
| Critical response | 81% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (221 reviews); 84% audience score[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/novocaine_2025) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Nathan Caine works as an assistant bank manager in San Diego and has lived his whole life with congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), a real condition that prevents him from feeling physical pain.[3](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/prime-video/prime-video-just-added-one-of-the-best-action-movies-of-2025-so-far-and-its-an-adrenaline-fueled-ride) • [5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2025/03/12/novocaine-jack-quaid-movie-review/) The Washington Post described the character's daily routine around the disorder: he keeps an all-liquid diet to avoid unknowingly biting his tongue, and the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) reviewer noted he sets three-hour timers so he knows to use the bathroom before his bladder would burst without warning.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2025/03/12/novocaine-jack-quaid-movie-review/) • [8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/novocaine-movie-review-2025)
The story begins on [Christmas Eve](https://www.edgepedia.org/christmas-eve), when the bank where Nate works is robbed by criminals in Santa suits and Sherry Margrave is taken hostage; Nate steals a police car and pursues them himself.[3](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/prime-video/prime-video-just-added-one-of-the-best-action-movies-of-2025-so-far-and-its-an-adrenaline-fueled-ride) • [9](https://apnews.com/article/ed565fb246c89508bb99ded579dcab69) The Associated Press's review noted a sequence in which Nate persuades his captor to torture him slowly, buying time for help to arrive while pretending to feel the pain.[9](https://apnews.com/article/ed565fb246c89508bb99ded579dcab69) The film is set at Christmas, though reviews describe the holiday setting as thin.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/mar/11/novocaine-movie-review)
## Production and cast
Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, previously the writer-directors of *[Villains](https://www.edgepedia.org/villains-film)*, *Body*, and *[Significant Other](https://www.edgepedia.org/significant-other-film)*, directed the film; in an interview they said their pitch to the producers was a tonal overhaul of the script into an action comedy, built around a character who cannot feel pain and does not know how to fight being thrust into an action movie.[11](https://screenanarchy.com/amp/2025/03/novocaine-interview-directors-dan-berk-and-robert-olsen-talk.html) Lars Jacobson wrote the screenplay.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29603959/fullcredits/)
The cast pairs Jack Quaid, known for *The Boys*, with Amber Midthunder, known for *[Prey](https://www.edgepedia.org/prey-2022-film)*, as the leads, supported by Ray Nicholson as the robber Simon, Betty Gabriel as Mincy, Matt Walsh as Coltraine, and [Jacob Batalon](https://www.edgepedia.org/jacob-batalon) as Roscoe.[2](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/novocaine) • [10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/mar/11/novocaine-movie-review) The film was shot in [Cape Town](https://www.edgepedia.org/cape-town), South Africa, standing in for San Diego.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2025/03/12/novocaine-jack-quaid-movie-review/) The score was composed by Lorne Balfe and Andrew Kawczynski.[2](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/novocaine)
## Release and box office
Paramount released *Novocaine* in North American theaters on March 14, 2025, after early-access showings the weekend before.[6](https://apnews.com/article/c93df1ff445cf8a930d374f847a51eec) It opened at number one with $8.7 million, slightly below studio expectations, on a weekend that was tracking as the lowest-grossing of 2025 to date with about $54 million in total ticket sales.[6](https://apnews.com/article/c93df1ff445cf8a930d374f847a51eec) Its worldwide total was $34 million against a reported production budget of $18 million.[3](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/prime-video/prime-video-just-added-one-of-the-best-action-movies-of-2025-so-far-and-its-an-adrenaline-fueled-ride)
**Home release.** The film arrived on digital platforms on April 8, 2025.[12](https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/novocaine-2025/) It later streamed on [Paramount+](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount) and Prime Video.[3](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/prime-video/prime-video-just-added-one-of-the-best-action-movies-of-2025-so-far-and-its-an-adrenaline-fueled-ride) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/novocaine_2025)
## Reception
Critics reviewed the film positively but not uniformly. Rotten Tomatoes recorded 81% from 221 critics and 84% from more than 1,000 verified audience ratings, with the critics consensus crediting the leads' charm and the film's "increasingly demented" use of its concept.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/novocaine_2025) The Associated Press reported 82% on the site at opening weekend and called the film a shot of bloody action-comedy that "delights in the relentless mutilation of its hero," while noting that it overstays its welcome with too many endings.[6](https://apnews.com/article/c93df1ff445cf8a930d374f847a51eec) • [9](https://apnews.com/article/ed565fb246c89508bb99ded579dcab69) On Metacritic it scored 58, with 19 positive, 17 mixed, and 2 negative reviews among the 38 counted; [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter) and several other outlets scored it 80, while the aggregate landed in "mixed or average" territory.[13](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/novocaine-2025/critic-reviews/)
Reviewers divided mainly over how well the one-joke premise carried a full feature. The Guardian's Benjamin Lee called it a throwaway one-joke action comedy whose premise stops being funny too soon, and Jen Yamato in The Washington Post gave it 1.5 stars, calling it numbingly bland despite Quaid's everyman appeal.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/mar/11/novocaine-movie-review) • [5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2025/03/12/novocaine-jack-quaid-movie-review/) Positive reviewers, including IGN and TheWrap, credited Quaid's performance as a comedic counterpoint to the film's graphic gags and praised Midthunder's role as more than a [damsel in distress](https://www.edgepedia.org/damsel-in-distress); a Tom's Guide retrospective noted that the premise wears thin in the final act after Nate has absorbed too much punishment.[13](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/novocaine-2025/critic-reviews/) • [3](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/prime-video/prime-video-just-added-one-of-the-best-action-movies-of-2025-so-far-and-its-an-adrenaline-fueled-ride) The British Board of Film Classification rated the film for strong bloody violence, gore, and language, describing "strong, chaotic violence, presented in a comically exaggerated style" with beatings, stabbings, improvised weapons, and extensive bloodshed.[14](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/novocaine-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi2odyy)
The film is distinct from the 2001 comedy *Novocaine* starring [Steve Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-martin).[15](https://suindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Combined-Indy_Zion-Guide_April-2025-PDF.pdf)
## References
1. [Novocaine, Paramount Global Content](https://paramountglobalcontent.com/title/novocaine)
2. [Novocaine, Paramount Pictures](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/novocaine)
3. [Prime Video just added one of the best action movies of 2025, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/prime-video/prime-video-just-added-one-of-the-best-action-movies-of-2025-so-far-and-its-an-adrenaline-fueled-ride)
4. [Novocaine (2025) full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29603959/fullcredits/)
5. [Numbingly bland 'Novocaine' is a painful action-comedy misfire, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2025/03/12/novocaine-jack-quaid-movie-review/)
6. ['Novocaine' leads numbingly slow weekend at domestic box office, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/c93df1ff445cf8a930d374f847a51eec)
7. [Novocaine (2025), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/novocaine_2025)
8. [Novocaine movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/novocaine-movie-review-2025)
9. [Movie Review: 'Novocaine,' with Jack Quaid, is a shot of bloody action-comedy, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/ed565fb246c89508bb99ded579dcab69)
10. [Novocaine review – throwaway one-joke action comedy brings the pain, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/mar/11/novocaine-movie-review)
11. [NOVOCAINE Interview: Directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, ScreenAnarchy](https://screenanarchy.com/amp/2025/03/novocaine-interview-directors-dan-berk-and-robert-olsen-talk.html)
12. [Novocaine, Plugged In](https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/novocaine-2025/)
13. [Novocaine critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/novocaine-2025/critic-reviews/)
14. [Novocaine, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/novocaine-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi2odyy)
15. [The Independent movie review, Santa Barbara Independent (April 2025)](https://suindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Combined-Indy_Zion-Guide_April-2025-PDF.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action comedies › Action comedies, 2020s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license