Waves

A24 | Release Date: November 15, 2019

7.5	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 95 Ratings

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Brent_MarchantDec 5, 2019

One would think that a movie with excellent performances, gorgeous and creative cinematography, superb art direction, a perfectly attuned soundtrack, and ample heartfelt emotion would provide the makings of a truly great film. At least that'sOne would think that a movie with excellent performances, gorgeous and creative cinematography, superb art direction, a perfectly attuned soundtrack, and ample heartfelt emotion would provide the makings of a truly great film. At least that's what one would think. And then there's "Waves," which has all of these attributes except the last one. This saga of a well-to-do African-American family dealing with life, love and loss strives to tell an engrossing story, serving up many of the elements needed to make that happen. Unfortunately, it lacks the story, script and pacing for it to gel into a cohesive whole. It instead comes across as several different films crammed into one, like pieces of a puzzle that don't quite fit together. Indeed, there's a great picture in there somewhere; it just never quite makes its way to the surface.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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moviemitch96Dec 7, 2019

This film follows the life of a family living in Miami, Florida as they pursue love and dreams, until they're shattered and nearly torn apart by an unexpected and sudden tragedy. This film definitely had a lot going for it. A great cast (withThis film follows the life of a family living in Miami, Florida as they pursue love and dreams, until they're shattered and nearly torn apart by an unexpected and sudden tragedy. This film definitely had a lot going for it. A great cast (with actors like Sterling K. Brown and Lucas Hedges to name a couple), and an intriguing story setup. However, the story felt highly unbalanced some times, and excessively melodramatic other times. The first half really begins to deteriorate for me as the drama gradually increased and the likability of certain characters decreased. I found the second half only slightly better, as the melodrama continues well into the rest of the film from this point but does offer some touching and hopeful moments. As far as characters go, there were only really a few likable characters the film had to offer. There were some interesting cinematography choices, even if there were a few too many scenes of the camera spinning around in circles. Furthermore, I'm torn as to whether I should praise the somewhat interesting use of many different aspect ratios throughout the film that really helped change and set the tone for a lot of scenes or whether it felt random and gimmicky (because it honestly did feel that way sometimes.) Overall, the film does have a powerful message to share about the bonds we share with family and loved ones, as well as the choices we make, and the pitfalls and mistakes in life that may impact those around us for better or worse, but the film's style and approach simply felt too jumbled and uncertain of itself for my liking and I was mostly left frustrated and underwhelmed by the end of it all.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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JLuis_001Jan 29, 2020

Being ambitious is not a bad thing but you have to be able to respond to your own ambition because otherwise you will stay halfway and going that way the balance will end up being negative.

Something like that is what happens to Waves, whoBeing ambitious is not a bad thing but you have to be able to respond to your own ambition because otherwise you will stay halfway and going that way the balance will end up being negative.

Something like that is what happens to Waves, who handles some very important issues, but deals with them in a terribly basic and melodramatic way that lacks imagination.

There are some good performances but in general they don't compensate for how boring the story gets at times and that's beyond the fact that the film tries to cover more than it can contain and naturally that affects too much because it cannot be more agile in its rhythm and as much as the effort is made, the film is merely a job done right but one quite far from the great attention it received from a certain part of the critic.

I thought Waves could sneak into my 2019 favorites, but it didn't even came close. Not a misfire by A24 but this wasn't even close to some of their best works.

Special mention for the remarkable soundtrack of Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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debieApr 26, 2021

.Very difficult to review. Waves is essentially 2 movies in one. The film is about a suburban, middle-class black family and focuses mainly on the teens. The acting is undeniably great. The story is relevant and deals with how teens navigate.Very difficult to review. Waves is essentially 2 movies in one. The film is about a suburban, middle-class black family and focuses mainly on the teens. The acting is undeniably great. The story is relevant and deals with how teens navigate in today's society, the pressures, and decisions they face, family dysfunction, poor choices, consequences, first love, forgiveness, and healing. The first half follows the older son Tyler. He's outgoing, popular, athletic, and living the high life until some poor choices start making his picture-perfect life unravel. The second half focuses on his younger sister, shy, introverted, Emily, who is having to deal with the fallout of her brother's choices and basically her coming-of-age story. (I preferred the second half.) The emotions are raw and real. The problem is the way it's filmed. First, the movie is way too long. Second, they try to be so "artsy" that it's annoying and pretentious. There are tons of long scenes just driving in cars with music, showing scenery glide by or psychedelic colors, long moments focused on characters just sitting, contemplating, worrying. They show close-ups of people throwing up like 4 times. Although the cinematography and music are good, they overly focus on them (the soundtrack is about 30 songs from oldies to rap) If they cut this movie by 40 minutes, taking out or shortening many of the long extended artsy scenes it would be more engaging and focused and would have added more tension, In My Humble Opinion! august2020… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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risonyeongMay 6, 2021

intense acting. very atmospheric perspective of a drama. good that the director made a stereotypical movie slightly different, with weird lyrical teenage songs, with hallucinatory light effects. very watchable and dont feel the long 2 hours.intense acting. very atmospheric perspective of a drama. good that the director made a stereotypical movie slightly different, with weird lyrical teenage songs, with hallucinatory light effects. very watchable and dont feel the long 2 hours. breaking the show into 2 parts to focus on the good and evil of teenage relationship, is quite 'revolutionary'in a sense.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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ben1322Sep 7, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This was a confusing one. I’ll start with the first half of the film.
It’s hard for me to give any film a negative review because usually the intentions are unclear. However, I thought that the first half of the film was unnatural in dialogue, forced in development and overall poor and predictable. They tried so hard to make the film relatable that it ended up being the opposite. I found it incredibly difficult to garner any sympathy for Tyler due to the forced character development. When Tyler finds out about the injury, he spirals down into a depressive state; the actions that followed were almost as if the director was checking off items on a list of what a teenager may do when they are feeling depressed. A drug and alcohol problem comes seemingly out of nowhere with no context. I thought the dialougue between Tyler and Alexis on the way home from the abortion center was unnatural and forced, but I thought throughout the film the acting was great. The climax of the film, when Tyler kills Alexis, was very well done. The camera work in conjunction with the suspenseful music and Harrisons’ acting show how drastic a situation can escalate too. The second half of the movie was extremely well done. Emily and Luke’s interactions are by far the most believable and relatable in the film. The soft feeling towards the entire second half with the knowledge of what happened in the first balance the film very well. Oftentimes we forget that a film typically focuses on one subject and fail to realize what effect that subject may have on others; this film brilliantly explores, in depth, the life of a second character. It is puzzling how one part was forced/unnatural while the other was so well paced and relatable. Maybe that was Shults’ intention. Regardless of the intention, I appreciated the creativity to split the film in two. I can’t give it a higher rating because I thought the first half was mediocre, but I can truly appreciate the second half.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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