Movie · 2019 · Romance, Drama · 2h 16m · R · English
Curator score: 8.4/10 (604.3K ratings)
Love is patient.
Overview
A controlling father’s attempts to ensure that his two children succeed in high school backfire after his son experiences a career-ending sports injury. Their familial bonds are eventually placed under severe strain by an unexpected tragedy.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.4/10
IMDb: 7.5/10
Letterboxd: 3.97/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
Metacritic: 80
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Trey Edward Shults
Production
A24, Bron Studios, JW Films, Guy Grand Productions
Cast
Kelvin Harrison Jr., Taylor Russell, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sterling K. Brown, Lucas Hedges, Alexa Demie, Neal Huff, Clifton Collins Jr., Krisha Fairchild, Ruben E. A. Brown, Joshua Brockington, Vivi Pineda, David Garelik, Bill Wise, Harmony Korine, Holland Hayes, Justin R. Chan, Albert Link, David Payton, Lulu Braha
Curator Review
Verdict
An ambitious, emotionally volatile family drama that starts in one register and then dramatically reconfigures itself. Its style can feel overheated or self-conscious, but the visual design, performances, and emotional payoff make it a strong watch for viewers who like big-feeling, formally adventurous dramas.
Best for
Viewers who like intense family dramas with a strong visual style
People open to a two-part structure and tonal shifts
Fans of emotionally cathartic, music-driven filmmaking
Audiences who appreciate ambitious, imperfect prestige dramas
Skip if
You want a straightforward, naturalistic drama
You dislike heightened emotion or formal experimentation
You prefer films that stay tightly focused on one character or one tone
You are sensitive to sudden tragedy and family trauma
Overview
Waves is a feverish family drama that begins as a pressure-cooker portrait of control, expectation, and teenage fragility before breaking open into something more mournful and restorative. Trey Edward Shults pushes the film hard: the camera, color, and soundtrack all work overtime to make every emotional shift feel seismic. Sometimes that intensity borders on excess, but the movie is never indifferent; it wants you to feel the damage and the aftermath in equal measure.
Worth noting
What makes it stick is the formal gamble. The film’s split structure changes the emotional center in a way that can be jolting at first, but it gives the story a rare sense of consequence and recovery. Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Taylor Russell anchor the film with performances that make the chaos feel human rather than merely stylized.
Bottom line
It is not a subtle movie, and it is not always a perfectly balanced one. But if you respond to bold, music-saturated melodrama that treats heartbreak as something messy, physical, and survivable, Waves lands with real force.
Top Letterboxd reviews
˗ˏˋ suspirliam ˊˎ˗ (5★) · 12641 likes
no u don’t understand that second half literally heals my mind body and SOUL
maria (2.5★) · 12494 likes
when that aspect ratio changed from widescreen to 4:3, my ass clenched along with it
˗ˏˋ suspirliam ˊˎ˗ (5★) · 10040 likes
“what a difference a day makes.”
a tale of two halves. the first holding your breath and breaking your heart in two, the second walking beside you piecing it back together again. it’s a tragedy that gives itself the time to heal, the time to breathe. life changes with the tide, it comes and goes in waves. but with every retreating tide is the promise of another to come. each wave brings its own adventure, its own highs and lows.… more
davidehrlich (3.5★) · 5489 likes
WAVES feels like A24’s Magnolia. an operatic plea for people to be better to each other, and a cautionary tale about why you should be wary of anyone whose favorite Kanye album is The Life of Pablo. a whole lot of it doesn't work but i couldn't help but respect the ambition and open-heartedness of it all.
Karsten (3★) · 5449 likes
Exactly what you’d expect from a movie to play Kanye, Kendrick, Tyler, Cudi, Frank Ocean, Chance, Radiohead and Animal Collective all in one movie. The first half of this film is literally so chaotic but in a really good way. The opening credits are sick, but I can’t tell if that’s just because I like Floridada by Animal Collective. And that’s how I felt about pretty much most of this film. Do I like this or is it really just… more Exactly what you’d expect from a movie to play Kanye, Kendrick, Tyler, Cudi, Frank Ocean, Chance, Radiohead and Animal Collective all in one movie. The first half of this film is literally so chaotic but in a really good way. The opening credits are sick, but I can’t tell if that’s just because I like Floridada by Animal Collective. And that’s how I felt about pretty much most of this film. Do I like this or is it really just… more