“Waves”– Movie Review

This week at Film at Lincoln Center, there was a sneak preview of the new drama, “Waves”, starring Sterling K. Brown.

Synopsis

Will a tightknit family be able to recover following a tragedy?

Story

In South Florida, Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is a high school senior living his best life along with his girlfriend Alexis (Alexa Demie).  While both teenagers have a bright future ahead of them, their short-term goals are clear: Alexis wants to have fun in her last year of school and Tyler wants to finish his wrestling career strong.  To that end, he enlists the aid of his father, Ronald (Sterling K. Brown) to act as something of a supplemental coach. Ronald, a former athlete himself, pushes Tyler as hard as he pushes himself as they workout together.  But perhaps Ronald is pushing his son a little too hard. 

Tyler severely injures his shoulder in a wrestling mishap; the doctor informs Tyler that he requires surgery, which will effectively prematurely end his high school wrestling career.  Rejecting surgery, Tyler tries to push himself through the pain – unfortunately, this means stealing some of the oxycodone his father uses for an old knee injury. Subsequently, when Tyler can no longer wrestle, he supplements his drug abuse with alcohol abuse.  Once he finds out that Alexis is pregnant and refuses to have an abortion, the two have a huge fight which results in a breakup. His substance abuse only worsens at this point. 

When Tyler follows Alexis to a party, they argue over the abortion once again – but with Tyler out of control, he hits her, causing Alexis to perish.  Tyler’s life is now ruined as he is sentenced to a long stretch in prison. With the incident being highly publicized, his younger sister Emily (Taylor Russell) now finds herself ostracized in her final year of high school.  At home, Ronald and his wife Catharine (Renée Elise Goldsberry) are experiencing such a strain on their marriage, it’s impacting the ability of both to earn a living; by now, it’s unclear whether they will be able to remain together.  Will this family stay intact while Tyler does his time?         

Review

As a director, Trey Edward Shults does a skillful job when it comes to telling a story in a visually interesting manner.  In particular, his use of camera movement and music (NIN’s Trent Reznor is credited for the soundtrack) are particularly notable.  When it comes to the screenplay, however, there are structural and narrative issues that seriously detract from “Waves” that ultimately result in an unsatisfying experience for the viewer.  It’s a bit of a challenge to say what the story is supposed to be about: Is it about Tyler dealing with his adversity? Is it about Emily finding her life again? Is it about how the parents proceed following this setback?  Apparently, it tries to be about all three, which is where the narrative spine of the script crumbles.

“Waves” is essentially Tyler’s story up until the point at which he is sentenced (side note:  why did he plead guilty to Murder 2 instead of Manslaughter?). Thereafter, it then becomes Emily’s story and (to a lesser extent) Catherine and Ronald’s story.  This change of focus can easily throw off the audience because after spending most of our screen time following Tyler (at an estimate, more than half of the movie), now our attention is forced to switch to a character (or characters) that were previously secondary or tertiary.  The viewer’s emotional investment in them will be limited at best. It’s something of a whiplash moment.

Following the screening, there was an interview with director Trey Edward Shults and several of the cast.  Shults described “Waves” as being deeply personal and autobiographical – something of a fictional narrative about himself and his loved ones.  Originally, he conceived of it as a story about music and teens when he himself was back in high school; through the years, he matured and the story added layers.  His choices of camera movement were done as a way to get into the head and heart of the characters, providing the audience with an immersive experience through the characters’ viewpoint.