Review of Waves (2019) by Jordanlayton — 28 Apr 2020
A family drama epic that's overwhelmingly fair to all characters. Fleshed out justification is shown for all actions taken, a rare trait in movies featuring predominantly teenage characters. It's not without flaw and hard to explain properly without spoiling, but I will try.
Imagine HBO series Euphoria with a little more focus on parents/family and somehow even more neon. I was legitimately surprised several times in the runtime with the directions the story went and that was a fresh surprise in a film that's mostly a teen drama.
In truth, regarding genre, this is movie is far more about family, parenting, and healing. Themes of warning of the dangers of parental expectation, the snowball effect that consciously making a bad decision can have, and the power of the effect that kindness towards others can have on yourself are all packed into this one.
Sterling K. Brown is riveting as always but the real shining performances come from the two children of the family the film surrounds, played by Taylor Russell and Kelvin Harrison Jr. The equal, but opposite paths these two actors play their characters progressing through are performed so wonderfully.
The neon aesthetic of the cinematography in this film also works quite well throughout the runtime.
This review of Waves (2019) was written by Jordanlayton on 28 Apr 2020.
Waves has generally received very positive reviews.
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