Review: Waves

Image courtesy of A24.

The third feature film from director Trey Edward Shults is overstuffed, often visually dazzling, occasionally maddening, well acted and sure to get a strong reaction one way or another from those who view it. The 135-minute film is really two movies for the price of one - a somewhat lurid, albeit well performed and stylish, melodramatic first half, and a much more restrained - and significantly more engaging - second act.

It should be pointed out that Shults - who is also responsible for the equally invasive drama "Krisha" and the low-key apocalypse film "It Comes at Night" - is white, and as a result some of the liberties he takes in telling this story, well, might make some uncomfortable. The film follows an affluent African American family in Florida whose lives take a tragic turn after son Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) takes a terrible action that ruins his life.

Tyler is a star wrestler, and is pushed by his overzealous father, Ronald (Sterling K. Brown), to achieve success. But Tyler finds out from a doctor that he has serious damage to his shoulder and must undergo surgery to prevent permanent damage. This, of course, will derail his high school wrestling career and, perhaps, get in the way of obtaining a scholarship. At the same time, he finds out that his girlfriend, Alexis (Alexa Demie), who's Hispanic, is pregnant, and she's not as keen on having an abortion as he is.

These two conflicts come to a head, and after Alexis has dumped Tyler due to his lack of support in her carrying her baby to term, he shows up at an after-prom party, and a tragedy occurs. As a result, Tyler is imprisoned, most likely for a period of many years. His family is, naturally, torn apart.

But just when you think the film is going to end on a bleak note, a second story materializes - that of Emily (Taylor Russell), Tyler's younger sister, who finds herself ostracized at school due to her brother's actions and being sought by a young man named Luke (Lucas Hedges), who's white.

If you're wondering why I'm pointing out the races of the various characters - and the affluent status of Tyler's family - it's because the filmmakers' use of these various signifiers are at the heart of what some could perceive as the film's faults. The picture's first half becomes increasingly sensationalist and melodramatic, portraying a young African American man and his Hispanic girlfriend in a relationship that takes a dysfunctional turn, with him calling her a "bitch" on more than one occasion and, eventually, getting violent.

However, Emily's relationship with the white guy - whose own problems involve an estranged, drug addicted father who's dying - is portrayed as the more stable of the two. My belief is that Tyler's family is portrayed as being wealthy because had they been lower class, the story might have seen accusations of dabbling in, for lack of a better phrase, misery porn. I don't believe this portrayal of the characters comes from a negative place, but it occasionally makes for uneasy viewing, considering the source.

So, it's a genuinely pleasant surprise when, during its second half, "Waves" leaves behind the melodrama of Tyler's story, and takes a more thoughtful approach to Emily's. For starters, Tyler's story is more grim in the sense that he is the one who commits the act that causes his family's downfall and, therefore, he's a little harder to sympathize with, whereas the second half focuses on the aftermath and how Emily, a shy young woman, tries to bring her family back together again. In other words, the film's second act successfully delivers the emotion - although subtly - that the first act is trying so desperately, and not so subtly, to force on the audience.

"Waves" has drawn a number of favorable reviews, and it's not hard to see why. Visually, it's often stunning - although the swirling dervish camera shots in vehicles driven by its lead characters are often more headache inducing than awe inspiring - and Shults plays with various aspect ratios and visual styles. In terms of performances, the film is very good, especially from its two young leads. Thematically is where "Waves" is a little all over the place, although the second half does a good job of compensating for some of the faults of the first half.

I'd recommend the film overall, even if it has faults. It's the type of movie in which the director just barely gets away with the hat trick he's trying to pull. "Waves" is audacious - occasionally more so than is likely called for - but when it finally finds the heart of its story in Emily's tale, it delivers the emotional punch it seeks.