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Waves

Waves

Romance · Drama · 2019

A controlling father’s attempts to ensure that his two children succeed in high school backfire after his son experiences a career-ending sports injury. Their familial bonds are eventually placed under severe strain by an unexpected tragedy.

Movie details

Waves

“Love is patient.”

2019 Romance · Drama 2h 16m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.4 / 10

Community rating

A controlling father’s attempts to ensure that his two children succeed in high school backfire after his son experiences a career-ending sports injury. Their familial bonds are eventually placed under severe strain by an unexpected tragedy.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Waves?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Trey Edward Shults

Written by

Trey Edward Shults

Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Tyler

Taylor Russell

Taylor Russell

Emily

Renée Elise Goldsberry

Renée Elise Goldsberry

Catharine

Sterling K. Brown

Sterling K. Brown

Ronald

Lucas Hedges

Lucas Hedges

Luke

Alexa Demie

Alexa Demie

Alexis

Neal Huff

Neal Huff

Bill

Court is in session

Put Waves on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.