By: Grace Conley

“I’m So Glad I’m Not Cool.”

I finally saw Waves, I was beyond excited for this movie. I went in blind, besides having seen the trailers, and it was nothing that I expected. This movie is a drama about a black suburban family living in Florida, with a focus on the brother and sisters story told through music. It echoes Moonlight strongly.

The first half is the brother’s story, intense and hard to watch for an hour straight. The second half is the sister’s story, soft, awkward and full of love. They are two completely different movies blended together by one event. It’s a great idea I only wish that there was more of the other sibling it each of the stories so it all really came together.

Because of this format, this movie feels like a play that’s broken up into two acts with a change in perspective. It feels so much like a play that they have visual cues in the movie to tell you the story is transitioning.

This movie has three different god damn aspect ratios, widescreen, full screen and the indie movie square 1.19.1 ratio. It’s distracting and I think unneeded.  

A lot of the dialogue is telling rather than showing which feels more fit for the stage. That’s my only real complaint, besides that stuff this movie is incredibly beautiful.

The soundtrack for Waves is impeccable, each song a reflection of the character’s experiences, each one an absolute bop.

The cinematography is crazy awesome. The first half of the movie is vibrant and never stops moving. It’s very similar to the cinematography in Euphoria. It’s almost like the cinematographer, Drew Daniels, also worked on Euphoria, but the second half is still soft.

The absolute highlights of this movie are: the performances, everyone brings something new to the table, each character is so unique I can’t keep my eyes off the screen. This story is strong and heart-wrenching that’s directed by Trey Edward Shults.

I don’t love that is a story about a black family with two white guys behind the camera, and because of that Waves lacks depth in its racial commentary. Besides that, this is a gorgeous movie, an emotional rollercoaster as the title implies and leaves you thinking. I highly recommend.

VERDICT

9.3 out of 10