The Wave
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: March 4, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 3, 2016
The Wave, Scandinavia’s first-ever disaster film, is the polar opposite of a disaster. It’s a triumph of modest means, a tribute to the power of storytelling on a human scale. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloMar 3, 2016
The movie isn’t afraid to go to some dark places. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekMar 5, 2016
The Wave, with the exception of a few overwrought moments, is low on sadism and high on humbling. We’re all at the mercy of nature’s power. It’s the Whatever we can never outrun. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisMar 3, 2016
The filmmakers (the script is by John Kare Raake and Harald Rosenlow Eeg) cook up the sort of unpleasantness that turns the better disaster pictures, like this one, into nail-biters. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMar 17, 2016
The Wave builds up a nice bit of genuine tension and hits some surprisingly dark notes. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerMar 5, 2016
While The Wave doesn’t quite match the saga of, say, The Impossible from 2012, it’s a film absolutely worth catching. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 4, 2016
The Wave’s centerpiece is a critical ten-minute span between when the rockslide occurs and the wave reaches civilization. Played out in real time, this is a period of sustained and effective tension. It’s real, raw, and ragged. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoMar 4, 2016
What’s interesting about The Wave is stepping back and considering just how well-constructed the whole thing is. The slow-burn build-up is just long enough, the disaster itself is just harrowing enough and the final act is just intense enough to keep us engaged. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 4, 2016
The Wave, directed by Roar Uthaug, is pretty good. It’s also pretty strange. At least for American viewers – and Norwegians, too? – experiencing all these familiar disaster movie tropes in a Scandinavian setting, even on a relatively low budget, can be weirdly disorienting. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniMar 3, 2016
A thrilling, gorgeous actioner about a massive tsunami that wipes a tourist town off the map. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesJohn HartlMar 3, 2016
Swedish director Roar Uthaug (“Cold Prey“) depends on well-crafted suspense, spot-on casting and ingenious special effects to tell the story of a dedicated geologist (Kristoffer Joner) who prophesies watery disaster in touristy Norway. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedMar 3, 2016
It’s as exhilarating as any epic American thriller, and better than most. Racing pulses and a state of awe and terror are guaranteed. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonMar 3, 2016
If you think foreign films can’t compete with Hollywood when it comes to delivering popcorn entertainment, prepare to be carried away by The Wave. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMar 4, 2016
The Wave adds credible writing and effective acting to gangbusters special effects, resulting in a white-knuckle experience a bit higher on the plausibility scale than what we're used to from Hollywood versions of the genre. Read full review
70
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyDec 14, 2015
It’s a jolting race against time when the wave gathers steam far away, as implacable as the tsunami in Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter, minus the pop metaphysics . Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungDec 14, 2015
Though they have little to add to familiar genre themes, Uthaug and the screenwriters make the most of the unique location, which lends itself to jaw-dropping vistas from every camera angle. Read full review
63
Washington PostStephanie MerryMar 3, 2016
The human scale of this story about a very real threat to one Norwegian village makes the movie more tragic and also more chilling. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithMar 2, 2016
The Wave, competent as it is, lacks the heart-rending power of the similar 2012 tsunami movie “The Impossible.” Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 2, 2016
You’ll want to catch The Wave because it’s fun to see Hollywood disaster movie cliches rendered in Norwegian. Read full review
60
The GuardianJordan HoffmanMar 5, 2016
Even though The Wave is fiction, there comes a point where it ceases to be nail-biting fun and just an exercise in voyeuristic cruelty. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeDec 14, 2015
The Wave sticks mostly to the big-studio formula (albeit on a much smaller budget), introducing a handful of bland soon-to-be-victims before bombarding them with spectacular digital effects. Read full review
58
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerMar 5, 2016
To have seen a disaster movie before is to have seen The Wave. But if there’s not necessarily anything remarkable or new about the film, Uthaug finds ways to make the familiar immediate, with a fraction of the money usually involved. Read full review
58
The Film StageAmanda WaltzMar 3, 2016
Its strict adherence to the disaster formula renders the experience far too generic and risk-averse to make it memorable, and the predictability will surely leave pulses at rest as opposed to pounding. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernMar 3, 2016
The visual effects are excellent, but director Roar Uthaug, who’s been tapped to reboot the "Tomb Raider" franchise, splashes in the clichés of big, dumb American action movies. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughMar 3, 2016
It follows the lead of more recent Hollywood disaster movies like “2012” and “The Impossible.” It features just one family; everyone else is part of the scenery. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineTimothy E. RawFeb 28, 2016
It sketches an imperiled family worth caring about, but any goodwill is soon weathered by wave after wave of contrivance following the initial town-leveling event. Read full review
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