WAVES
****
Director: Trey Edward Shults
Screenwriter: Trey Edward Shults
Principal cast:
Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Taylor Russell
Alexa Demie
Sterling K. Brown
Renée Elise Goldsberry
Lucas Hedges
Country: USA/Canada
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 135 mins.
Australian release date: 9 July 2020
Waves, directed, written and co-edited by Trey Edward Shults (as was his previous film It Comes At Night), has the most full-on, energetic opening of any film seen in recent years. It immediately sets up the expectation that you’re about to see something quite different from the norm. As a handsome young couple drive down a freeway singing along to the cranked-up music playing in the car, the camera repeatedly spins around 360 degrees in the space between them. It’s one of the best cinematic depictions of the sheer exuberance of youth, young love and the joy of being alive that you’re likely to see on-screen in 2020. There’s also a hint of recklessness, too - could it be a portent of things to come?
Set in South Florida, Waves centres on an upper middle-class African-American family dominated by a stern patriarch (Sterling K. Brown), whose primary motivation is, “We are not afforded the luxury of being average.” He pushes everyone in the household to excel in everything, not least himself but particularly his 17-year-old son. Tyler Williams (Kelvin Harrison Jr., who also featured in It Comes At Night) is a popular senior student approaching graduation and a valued member of his high school’s wrestling team. His father, Ronald, trains him after hours in their home gym and is unrelenting in his bullish approach to his success. Completing this picture of what appears to be a happy family is Catherine (Elise Goldsberry), step-mum to Tyler and his teenage sister Emily (Taylor Russell). Tyler has a girlfriend, Alexis Lopez (Alexa Demie), with whom he is in an intimate relationship and the pair is soon to attend the school prom as part of the ‘A’ set. Not long before the big night, two unexpected events turn Tyler’s plans inside out and his life suddenly spirals out of control. Abruptly, Shults’ script does another 360 and the story shifts from concentrating on Tyler to Emily, who we’ve barely seen in the movie’s first half. The pace substitutes frantic for calm as the girl comes to grips with the trials that have befallen her family, in the midst of which is the emotional turmoil of forming a relationship with a fellow student, Luke (Lucas Hedges). It’s an abrupt change of gear but Shults is skilful enough to pull it off successfully.
Waves is a powerful, if somewhat exhausting, examination of a family in despair, as their lives are torn apart, and in that regard it covers some of the same ground as It Comes At Night, which also told of a father striving to keep his family together. It is a bold, innovative piece of cinema and Shults takes no prisoners in this tale of love, forgiveness and the yearning for redemption. The performances are enthralling, particularly as each character begins to question their own values and is forced to face up to various situations that throw their usual lives into absolute chaos. Using a punchy, eclectic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, which contains samples of rap, R&B and experimental music and sounds, and features contemporary artists like Frank Ocean (five tracks), Kanye West, Amy Winehouse, Radiohead and Tame Impala. Indeed, Shults wrote the script with various songs in mind, linking them to his characters’ thoughts.
Waves is a most confronting family drama and likely to divide audiences but, if you’re interested in innovative cinema, it is highly recommended. It adds a fresh perspective to the lyrics of Dinah Washington’s ‘This Bitter Earth’ when she sings “What a difference a day makes”, which is used to emphasise a couple of significant moments in the film. Shults is in his early thirties and already coming up with material as strong as this - it’s going to be fascinating to see where he goes to from here.
Screenwriter: Trey Edward Shults
Principal cast:
Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Taylor Russell
Alexa Demie
Sterling K. Brown
Renée Elise Goldsberry
Lucas Hedges
Country: USA/Canada
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 135 mins.
Australian release date: 9 July 2020
Waves, directed, written and co-edited by Trey Edward Shults (as was his previous film It Comes At Night), has the most full-on, energetic opening of any film seen in recent years. It immediately sets up the expectation that you’re about to see something quite different from the norm. As a handsome young couple drive down a freeway singing along to the cranked-up music playing in the car, the camera repeatedly spins around 360 degrees in the space between them. It’s one of the best cinematic depictions of the sheer exuberance of youth, young love and the joy of being alive that you’re likely to see on-screen in 2020. There’s also a hint of recklessness, too - could it be a portent of things to come?
Set in South Florida, Waves centres on an upper middle-class African-American family dominated by a stern patriarch (Sterling K. Brown), whose primary motivation is, “We are not afforded the luxury of being average.” He pushes everyone in the household to excel in everything, not least himself but particularly his 17-year-old son. Tyler Williams (Kelvin Harrison Jr., who also featured in It Comes At Night) is a popular senior student approaching graduation and a valued member of his high school’s wrestling team. His father, Ronald, trains him after hours in their home gym and is unrelenting in his bullish approach to his success. Completing this picture of what appears to be a happy family is Catherine (Elise Goldsberry), step-mum to Tyler and his teenage sister Emily (Taylor Russell). Tyler has a girlfriend, Alexis Lopez (Alexa Demie), with whom he is in an intimate relationship and the pair is soon to attend the school prom as part of the ‘A’ set. Not long before the big night, two unexpected events turn Tyler’s plans inside out and his life suddenly spirals out of control. Abruptly, Shults’ script does another 360 and the story shifts from concentrating on Tyler to Emily, who we’ve barely seen in the movie’s first half. The pace substitutes frantic for calm as the girl comes to grips with the trials that have befallen her family, in the midst of which is the emotional turmoil of forming a relationship with a fellow student, Luke (Lucas Hedges). It’s an abrupt change of gear but Shults is skilful enough to pull it off successfully.
Waves is a powerful, if somewhat exhausting, examination of a family in despair, as their lives are torn apart, and in that regard it covers some of the same ground as It Comes At Night, which also told of a father striving to keep his family together. It is a bold, innovative piece of cinema and Shults takes no prisoners in this tale of love, forgiveness and the yearning for redemption. The performances are enthralling, particularly as each character begins to question their own values and is forced to face up to various situations that throw their usual lives into absolute chaos. Using a punchy, eclectic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, which contains samples of rap, R&B and experimental music and sounds, and features contemporary artists like Frank Ocean (five tracks), Kanye West, Amy Winehouse, Radiohead and Tame Impala. Indeed, Shults wrote the script with various songs in mind, linking them to his characters’ thoughts.
Waves is a most confronting family drama and likely to divide audiences but, if you’re interested in innovative cinema, it is highly recommended. It adds a fresh perspective to the lyrics of Dinah Washington’s ‘This Bitter Earth’ when she sings “What a difference a day makes”, which is used to emphasise a couple of significant moments in the film. Shults is in his early thirties and already coming up with material as strong as this - it’s going to be fascinating to see where he goes to from here.