The Wave, so far, falls at the bottom of my list of movies for 2020. It's a weird, psychedelic version of The Hangover, but with none of the humour, characterization, or plot. Even the visuals, which should be surreal (because the movie is based around a drug trip), instead looks like an Instagram/Snapchat filter, making sure that this film has, in fact, absolutely nothing going for it.
The Wave tells the story of Frank the insurance lawyer and his buddy Jeff (a criminal underutilisation of Donald Faison) as they navigate their way through a party. When Frank does a hit of something from a mysterious dealer (played by the ever-Irish Tommy Flanagan), he finds himself the life and soul of the party-until it ends and he finds out that he's still high.
What's more, the girl he was partying with, Natalie, has gone missing. Now forced to retrace his steps with Jeff, he uncovers the disaster of his night, forced to confront his decisions in daylight while still high from the night before. There's so many things happening in this movie and none of it is interesting: not the main storyline involving him looking for the girl and finding out what drug he was given, not the B-story involving the insurance family; nothing at all about the movie stands out in any way. Even the music is so-so.
The movie is ridiculous in its presentation and characterisation. There's the goody-two-shoes husband with the screeching harpy of a wife; the cool black friend who's a bit of a sleaze; a whole bunch of superficial nonsense masquerading as philosophy; bland, unimaginative cinematography; a drug dealer who delights in being ultra-violent; and that's their only characterisation, mind you. The only character points they have are these. The characters have no depth or substance in any way, and the same goes for the writing. Although the dialogue does flow naturally, the plot does not, choosing tacky filters, and conversations meant to be deep, over actual plot progression. I wish I could write more about it, but anything more than what I've said would merely constitute filler, which is pretty much the entirety of this film.
Much like Inherit The Viper, The Wave suffers from poor writing and characterization, with the characters all one-note and unimaginative. The plot hinges too hard on the mystery drug and, by the end of it, you've forgotten all about it. There's some vague gesturing toward karmic balance and how decisions have effects on people, but the truth is, if you're looking for philosophy, well, that princess is in another castle.
The Wave tells the story of Frank the insurance lawyer and his buddy Jeff (a criminal underutilisation of Donald Faison) as they navigate their way through a party. When Frank does a hit of something from a mysterious dealer (played by the ever-Irish Tommy Flanagan), he finds himself the life and soul of the party-until it ends and he finds out that he's still high.
What's more, the girl he was partying with, Natalie, has gone missing. Now forced to retrace his steps with Jeff, he uncovers the disaster of his night, forced to confront his decisions in daylight while still high from the night before. There's so many things happening in this movie and none of it is interesting: not the main storyline involving him looking for the girl and finding out what drug he was given, not the B-story involving the insurance family; nothing at all about the movie stands out in any way. Even the music is so-so.
The movie is ridiculous in its presentation and characterisation. There's the goody-two-shoes husband with the screeching harpy of a wife; the cool black friend who's a bit of a sleaze; a whole bunch of superficial nonsense masquerading as philosophy; bland, unimaginative cinematography; a drug dealer who delights in being ultra-violent; and that's their only characterisation, mind you. The only character points they have are these. The characters have no depth or substance in any way, and the same goes for the writing. Although the dialogue does flow naturally, the plot does not, choosing tacky filters, and conversations meant to be deep, over actual plot progression. I wish I could write more about it, but anything more than what I've said would merely constitute filler, which is pretty much the entirety of this film.
Much like Inherit The Viper, The Wave suffers from poor writing and characterization, with the characters all one-note and unimaginative. The plot hinges too hard on the mystery drug and, by the end of it, you've forgotten all about it. There's some vague gesturing toward karmic balance and how decisions have effects on people, but the truth is, if you're looking for philosophy, well, that princess is in another castle.