Novocaine (2025) Delivers Laughs, Bruises, and a Whole Lot of Chaos

I wouldn’t call ‘no-pain-tolerance’ a superpower or anything.

Novocaine is a 2025 film. Nate Cain can’t feel physical pain. Not the kind of person to boast about it, he finds himself on an unexpected mission to save the girl of his dreams. He winds up in several fights, bruises, and burns, and walks away without a hint of pain.

Seeing all the painful injuries Nate undergoes in this movie makes me so glad that I had novocaine that time I got six permanent teeth pulled at the dentist. I knew what to expect based on the trailers, but Novocaine is a wild time! It is a hilarious movie, though its storyline, running gags, and side characters overdose itself.

Thanks to his performance in Scream (2022), Jack Quaid has become more and more popular for his talented comedic chops. I don’t know how much he improvised, but Quaid came up with the most memorable one-liners. Nate is a loveable goofball who inadvertently becomes a hero. While keeping himself safe, Nate always looks out for others.

One thing that my friend and I realized is that the hero has a disability. Not many heroes, whether in superhero universes or in general have disabilities. Films need to have more characters with a disability. You never realize what anybody is capable of. Nate uses his disability where he can, but endangers his safety.

Novocaine has fun with its supporting characters. Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Jacob Batalan, Betty Gabriel, Matt Walsh, Conrad Kemp, and Craig Jackson.

Batalan is another actor coming into his with his comedic talents. The film influences online friendships in a positive light. Friends will always be there.

Novocaine is filled with an ensemble of characters containing their own subplots. Subplots are necessary for a film like this. While Quaid does an excellent job holding his own, you do need a break from him. That was a smart idea on the filmmaker's part. The police scenes were funny, mixing a dynamic between dry humor and seriousness.

The film still felt like it was in its idea phase with writers agreeing to every idea thrown in. Sherry (Amber Midhunter) is an interesting character. With how situations turn out, her character was not explored enough. After some thought about her past, Sherry is also still figuring herself out. There’s more beyond the story once Novocaine concludes.

I immediately checked out the behind-the-scenes right after seeing Novocaine. Major props to Dan Berk and Robert Olsen for keeping the internal logic grounded, no matter how ‘out there’ the situations felt. In contrast to filmmaking, Novocaine was shot in chronological order to keep Nate’s injuries consistent.

Berk and Olsen worked closely with the stunt and special effects team. A lot of prep work was done in pre-production. They had wound meetings throughout the production to keep track of the progression of Nate’s injuries. 109 different wounds, lacerations, and bruises were created! Everyone enjoyed their time in this chaotic film.

This is no movie for anyone with a weak stomach. Novocaine takes advantage of its plotline, throwing in every awful injury or violent situation you can name. One audience member made an audible yelp in response to an awful injury.

Beyond that, Novocaine is hilarious. My friend and I belted out laughing so many times! The kitchen fight comes to mind. Another memorable scene is Nate visiting his customer, Earl (Lou Beatty Jr.), who is totally stunned by Nate’s zero reactions to pain.

I love movies where you can laugh and laugh. That’s what’s so great about theater settings, the place to see Novocaine.