Waves (2019)

• Year: 2019
• Released: 15 Nov 2019
• Country: United States, Canada
• Adwords: 14 wins & 41 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8652728/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waves
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/waves
• Available in: 720p, 1080p, 720p
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Drama, Romance, Sport
• Runtime: 135 min
• Writer: Trey Edward Shults
• Director: Trey Edward Shults
• Cast: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lucas Hedges, Taylor Russell
• Keywords: florida, wrestling, a24, african american, controlling father,

	7.5/10
	80/100

Waves Storyline

Set against the vibrant landscape of South Florida, and featuring an astonishing ensemble of award-winning actors and breakouts alike, Waves traces the epic emotional journey of a suburban African-American family – led by a well-intentional but domineering father – as they navigate love, forgiveness and coming together in the aftermath of a loss. From acclaimed director Trey Edward Shults, Waves is a heartrending story about the universal capacity for compassion and growth even in the darkest of times.

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Waves Movie Reviews

family study

High school senior Tyler Williams is on top of the world. His family is supportive and well off. He has his friends and a beautiful girlfriend. He’s a star wrestler at school. His father (Sterling K. Brown) pushes hard but he does it out of concern. A nagging injury turns out to be more. A series of self-inflicted problems and unforeseen difficulties come at him in waves.

I like this movie as soon as it starts. It begins with a great cinematic vision. Then it turns into a compelling character study of a family. I am a little conflicted about the divide in the movie. It would have been perfectly great to wrap up the movie soon after the midway point. I do see the value of the change over but it does split the movie in two. Also, it gets a little long at over two hours. It may be worthwhile to give the sister more screen time in the first half. Overall, it’s a compelling study of this family.

good story, poorly recorded sound

Trey Edward Shults’s “Waves” looks at how a series of bad decisions affect a family. The movie is like a kick in the gut, with a number of shocking scenes throughout. An unpleasant, but well acted and well directed movie.

The movie’s problem is the the sound. They use the bass so much that it causes your room to shake, and other times you can barely hear the cast members talking.

We can probably ignore that and focus on the story. In that sense, it’s probably one of last year’s most important movies. I’d say that the most intense performances come from Sterling K. Brown (of “This Is Us”) and Renée Elise Goldsberry (of “Hamilton”) as the parents. They want what’s best for their children but can be too forceful. Not to subtract from the performances of the younger people. Everything adds up to a fine movie. I recommend it, but just remember that it’s like a knife in the stomach.

Love and Tragedy and Forgiveness in another A24 Florida film

And the moral of the story is: Parents – talk to your kids. Like, actually talk to them. Maybe give them a hug every now and again… I mean, don’t wait until the absolute worst thing can happen to your family. Do it a little *before* then, kay?

This is a powerfully told story that shows a director who may be so creative and full of vigor and energy and ambition with his camera (and good lord, Drew Daniels is flying high and free and ready to take on the world like the apprentice of Emmanuel Lubezki), that his reach may – at times – exceed the grasp of his script. I say at times because this is a bifurcated viewing experience; this is almost two movies smushed together with the first involving a very harrowing, dark, sad and intense downward spiral of a misguided young man (Kelvin Harrison, playing an opposite yet with similar hardcore energy than his character in Luce), and then the second half/the second movie is what happens to the rest of his family (primarily his younger sister) afterwards.

I think that Shults has a lot of creative, heartfelt and genuine execution for many of the scenes and moments in the first part of the film, but at core the material is immersed in things we may have seen before, even in After-School specials – domineering (black) dad, drug addiction, pregnancy, hard-pressed-to-the-limit-and-beyond athlete, so much is pumped into the narrative – until it hits the breaking point that I was expecting would happen eventually. I wonder what turns the story could have taken had it not gone SO immesurably tragic (and the chaos that spins out for the character I think gets reflected in the filmmaking, which is commendable and uniquely done, almost like Shults doing his spin on a Fire Walk With Me scenario but for 2019).

Then that second part comes, and I appreciated what Shults was doing with the turn into the story, even if it doesn’t quite gel altogether (or it’s here where it starts to feel its length, a little). He focuses in on the daughter, and a relationship that happens somewhat suddenly with Lucas Hedges, and the actors bring a lot to the table (Taylor Russell does a whole lot with what might be a little on the page, and especially delivers some heartrending moments with Brown when the characters finally have a heart to heart). The only issue is that it all rests on characters who didn’t get as much time as they should’ve (well, Brown did, and he can’t help but be great, but his character is painted in broad strokes as Angry-Unable-to-Talk-Dad). I like what he is doing as a filmmaker, which is grappling with this notion of… well, after something like THAT happens, what about everyone else?

What Waves becomes then is – and sorry for using this word but I think it works – meditation on grief and forgiveness and trying to connect with someone to, if not mend fences completely, then to start the process. These characters, in all seriousness, could have therapy and most of their problems could be dealt with, but the idea here is almost more Biblical in nature (I don’t think it’s just there as a dramatic fluorish that the characters go to church, Shults means to take this seriously as a theme). But the reality is they don’t and have to reckon with their lives and lots and what they have to do to become whole again. I admire so much of that and the clear passion Shults puts in to this… I just wish it connected for me overall a bit more.

I feel almost like a dick criticizing this, as I can picture someone who’s 20 years my junior or so who may see this and it could turn them on to filmmaking, or even more profoundly move them to connect with their family members. At the same time, I have to be honest with how it all worked or didn’t work. At times, this is emotionally striking and heartbreaking and shocking, and at other times it’s a little more basic and the execution can only do so much to rise above the more conventional themes. For all of its flaws though, it is a special picture, and certainly something A24 can be proud of (albeit there is a bit that is CLEARLY a Moonlight reference).