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Waves

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Waves

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• Drama
• Romance

• 2019
• Trey Edward Shults
• 136 mins
• 15

Summary

Drama starring Taylor Russell and Kelvin Harrison Jr. Tyler Williams seems to have it made: he's a popular student and a keen member of his high-school wrestling team. When an injury threatens his career prospects, his life begins to spiral out of control, leaving his parents and his sister, Emily, to pick up the pieces.

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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Emma Simmonds

Competing pressures conspire to topple a Black teenager in this powerful domestic drama that caresses and crashes against the screen like the waves of the title. The third film from Trey Edward Shults (after Krisha and It Comes at Night) intensely captures the competitive fervour experienced by thrill-seeking, risk-taking, pumped-up protagonist Tyler, played by an outstanding Kelvin Harrison Jr. It also reveals the way his stresses suffocate and define him, and shows how his uncompromising father (Sterling K Brown) only ratchets up the expectation. With Tyler clearly heading for a fall, the film can be agonising to watch, but Shults paints a provocative, compassionate picture of what it's like to be a young Black man in America today. The time spent in the shoes of Tyler's shy sister Emily (Taylor Russell, giving a gorgeously nuanced performance) offers welcome respite from the film's more heady scenes. Shot in an alternately surging and sensitive style by Shults's regular collaborator Drew Daniels, and sensationally scored by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, this is immersive, affecting film-making from a director who just keeps getting better.

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7.5/10

How to watch

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Streaming

• Prime Video
• Sky Store

Credits

Cast

rolenameEmilyTaylor RussellTylerKelvin Harrison JrAlexisAlexa DemieCoach WiseBill WiseRyanDavid GarelikRonaldSterling K BrownBobbyClifton Collins JrLukeLucas HedgesMr StanleyHarmony Korine

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Crew

rolenameDirectorTrey Edward Shults

Details

Theatrical distributor

Universal

Released on

2020-01-17

Languages

English

Guidance

Violence, swearing, drug abuse

Formats

Colour

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