When he addresses Derek, he stares just beyond the cinematographer’s lens as if he’s talking past Derek to us, because we have just as much need to hear what Rob has to say about integrity and self-worth. But in Cage’s gruff, muffled speech pattern, there’s an abiding kindness that Rob that holds in reserve until he needs it. When he arrives at Willy’s Wonderland, The Janitor learns that the restaurant is overrun by a group of animatronic characters possessed by the souls of serial killers who committed suicide in a Satanic ritual many years ago.

Cage 2021 was an even wilder year than usual for Nicolas Cage

Willy’s Wonderlandstars Nicolas Cage as a man known as The Janitor, a drifter who is offered a cleaning gig at an abandoned family pizza joint in exchange for a new car tire. Cage’s work in Wonderland and Ghostland doesn’t constitute “acting” as audiences have been trained to think about “acting”: Every gesture he makes, from the lean-in toward the camera just before he nods “yes” to a question to the cryptic euphoria he exhibits while playing pinball, has purpose. It’s the effect of the relationship Cage has fostered with the camera and with moviegoers for years, from Raising Arizona to Vampire’s Kiss, from Mom and Dad to Mandy to Color Out of Space, from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to now. It’s a waking nightmare made of gore, suffering, and hallucinatory slow-mo, soundtracked by Cage’s inchoate howls of rage and grief over his lost love Mandy (Andrea Riseborough).The film was released through video on demand courtesy of Screen Media Films, and was initially scheduled for theatrical release in October 2021. In Pig, he comes off as a thespian, a real actor, one devoted to his craft and the pursuit of greater truths through fiction. Across the 2010s, there were a number of films in which the 57-year-old Academy Award-winner embraced his singular larger-than-life acting style, elevating his approach to new heights. The parody versions of the songs here are pretty funny, as is Cage’s solemn devotion to his job, down to his insistence that he takes a pinball game break at intervals throughout the film.

Willy’s Wonderland: Where to watch UK - streaming services

By now, Cage is such a master of his style that his viewers know he’s speaking to them and to their expectations of him, even when he doesn’t appear to be. John Stamos Snapped At Elizabeth Taylor While Filming 'General Hospital': "Get That Old Lady Out Of My Eye Line!Nicolas Cage has delivered many exceptional performances across his career in such efforts as Adaptation, Leaving Las Vegas, Wild at Heart, Raising Arizona… the list goes on. There will be sniggering once word gets out about this ridiculous horror film featuring a former kids’ birthday venue/game arcade occupied by evil, life-size animatronic puppets.