Waves: An Ambitious, Heartfelt Drama
Writer/director Trey Edward Shults (Krisha, It Comes At Night) is back with a big heart and a lot of feels with his operatic family drama, Waves. Despite its tumultuous ripples, Waves brings a bit of levity to Shults’ filmography (with its uplifting message that “Love covers all offenses”), but it ultimately lacks the commanding grip of his previous features.
Set against the vibrant landscape of South Florida, Waves traces the journey of a suburban family - led by a well-intentioned but domineering father - as they navigate love, forgiveness, and coming together in the aftermath of a loss.
Waves is a film that’s intentionally (and sometimes unnecessarily) at war with itself — something that works more to its detriment. Essentially two films in one that focus on the highs and lows of life, which are metaphorically structured to reflect the very notion of its title, Waves oscillates between states of equilibrium and overwhelming stress and strain in unsubtle but affecting ways. (Shults even goes so far as to play with aspect ratio to literally [and unsubtly] symbolize the contraction and expansion of a wave crashing — a bold but unnecessary and successful experimentation). Shults’ vision is ambitious, but messy and unfocused; meandering and stiff. He’s somewhat out of his element (being a white male from Texas writing about a black family in Florida), and at its worst, Waves gives off the feeling of an author writing about things they don’t fully know or understand.
The structure of the story and Shults’ strict commitment to its wave-like formatting box the film in and invite a fair amount of pacing issues. Instead of being divided (somewhat unequally) between Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who creates chaos and tragedy for himself and his family, and Emily (Taylor Russell), Tyler’s younger sister who is trying to cope in the aftermath, the story really should have been more centered around Emily and her father, Ronald (Sterling K. Brown). The narrative felt more about their shared struggle and how they each feel slightly responsible for the events that have transpired. A tighter focus and spotlight on Emily and Ronald’s emotional journey and individual (yet shared) quest for forgiveness may have helped Waves crash with greater force.
There are moments when Tyler’s story feels visceral and intense, but they’re far and few between. It’s a bit too bloated and thick with melodrama, and it spends a lot of time building up to its inevitable and groan-worthy climax. It’s a little too populated with shorehorned misfortune, so much so that it begins to come across like a greatest hits of teenage calamity that rings a bit hollow and insincere. His section didn’t need to be an hour-plus; if it were condensed down to 15-20 minutes, it would have been more bearable — and it would free up the narrative to explore Emily and Ronald’s story.
It’s not until Emily’s story began that we started to feel a connection to the film and understand what Shults was trying to communicate. Her story dives a bit deeper below the surface, exploring her internal struggle through a shared experience with her boyfriend Luke (Lucas Hedges), who is able to set aside the hostility and resentment he feels toward his estranged and abusive father to be with him while he dies of cancer. Her quiet feelings of angst and despair build to a nice catharsis, and her story possesses a level of emotionality and charm — partially thanks to Lucas Hedges’ warmth — that isn’t really present in the first half.
Despite the disparity between the film’s two halves, Shults maintains a consistent and cohesive tone throughout, tying the two narratives threads together with repeated imagery and compositions. His direction, while breathtaking and spectacular, feels too flashy and pretentious at times; a little too ripe with movement and style that doesn’t always feel motivated or vital to the story at large. Drew Daniels’ cinematography is glossy, sleek, and full of vibrant colors that energize and pop (and evoke a feeling of PTA’s Punch-Drunk Love); it really only becomes problematic in low light situations. Everything is set to the pulsing rhythm of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ sonic score, which contains a lot of lovely experimentations that expand upon their sound and stand out against the rest of their film work.
While it’s not without its problems, there’s a lot to admire with Waves — like its wonderful performance from Sterling K. Brown, Taylor Russell, and Lucas Hedges. When it hits, it hits hard, and when it meanders, it takes a minute to get back on track, but overall it makes for an interesting exploration on the power of love and how it allows us to forgive ourselves and other (even when that doesn’t seem possible).
Recommendation: It might not hit all the way home, but its emotional and operatic story is still affecting and gives you a lot to chew on.
Rating: 3.5 kisses outta 5.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below and as always, remember to viddy well!