Waves
I’m going to whole heartedly say this - I think Waves is one of the most beautiful films ever made - there are certain films that can take your breath away; this is one of them.
I’m in love with the nostalgic feeling of the first half; the endless summer, the culture surrounding the mid-to-late 2010s, and the gorgeous setting of Miami. The aura of it seems so lively yet so tranquil. It was my mistake thinking that this film would be about the difficulties athletes face from time to time. When Tyler delivers that lethal blow about a hour in, the whole film changes. Drastically. That sequence of the police cars and Tyler trying to escape is the most adrenaline-pumping, heart-racing sequence, and it grounds you fully in the realism of what has just happened. I felt myself becoming almost breathless. Specifically that short scene with the multiple police vehicles, highlighting the severity of the situation - it was like watching a car crash, but I just didn’t want to look away.
The 2nd half is more contemporary, as it explores the grief felt by the people involved in this tragedy. The main character shift to Emily is pulled off so well, and Luke’s character as a nice but shy person is so warming to see as he slowly heals her. That ending is great - she finally rides free, free of the burden of the events that she once believed would plague her for the rest of her life. That montage near the end with the outro of Seigfried playing made my jaw drop, I couldn’t believe how well it was filmed.
Aside from the plot, the music is sublime, it’s some of the most time-accurate songs, and personally it’s the majority of my music catalogue. The cinematography and colour scheming is incredible, and the use of resolution shifting is genius. But what makes this so special, and so spectacular is the ability to completely capture how I imagine 2016-2018 as a young adult in America must’ve felt; they were the second generation of social media, but it seemed to influence them the most. Everything seems so handcrafted, as if to perfectly paint a portrait of now such a nostalgic time, from the posters on the wall, to the colours used, to the setting of sunny Miami and it’s palm trees, to even the iOS version we see on phones in the film. It is an absolutely stunning piece of cinema, and I was in awe multiple times as it absolutely blew me away.