Waves

What a diff'rence a day made
Twenty-four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be rain
My yesterday was blue, dear
Today I'm part of you, dear
My lonely nights are through, dear
Since you said you were mine

Ella Fitzgerald knew what time it is.

Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr) lives in Florida. He's handsome, popular, a good student and an excellent athlete. His family are well off and he has a beautiful girl, Alexis (Alexa Demie) on his arm. College is approaching and his father Ronald (Sterling K.Brown) only wants what's best for him. Life is good and the whole world is there for the plucking. Then everything goes wrong and caught in the storm is his younger sister Emily (Taylor Russell). Will she cope where her brother couldn't?

Jesus. Waves is the story of the Williams family and it's a story of two halves. Both equally compelling but that first half is one of the most intense hours you'll see in a cinema this year. A story of toxic masculinity that while a bit too melodramatic at times will pin you to your seat until it's inevitable climax. It's a pulsating, stressful, traumatic and overwhelming look at the pressures of teenage life and the issues that can arise when a person is pushed too hard. Everything about it is designed to cause viewer anxiety, the constant pounding soundtrack (from Trent Reznor no less), the intense visuals, the nonstop buildup of pressure until.....the zoom in, the screen becomes smaller, 16:9 becomes 4:3, the Williams' world becomes claustrophobic and suffocating before a switch to Cinemascope offers a feeling of freedom, a future of hope. Trey Edward Shult is a director with a hell of an eye and while his visuals do calm down in the second half of the movie, it's no less beautiful.

It's here the film becomes softer, more intimate and yeah, the buzz of the first half goes but Emily's story is no less compelling and it still manages to surprise when it goes down a couple of very unexpected roads. Some people may find Waves unfocused and true, it's not a film with any particular target but it's a rare watch that gets you in the gut as well as the head. It's African American cinema at it's best, at times feeling like a companion piece to 2016's Moonlight, sharing that film's fascination with water and peoples relationship to it. The go-to place to wash away your problems.

Every performance here is pitch perfect. Kelvin Harrison Jr superb as a young man who's world is thrown into disarray by two life changing events, rage and upset competing behind his eyes. Taylor Russell as Emily is does wonders in a part that initially seems one note but one that blooms as the story unfolds. Sterling K. Brown as their father Ronald is excellent. A man forced to excel due to the shade of his skin and his anger over how he's lived his life and his shame over how he lets that anger colour his relationships with those he loves. Brown's an actor who can do no wrong lately and he continues his run here. He's one of those who can say as much with a disappointed stare as he can with a thousand words. Of course this being an A24 production Lucas Hedges pops up too. Hedges, the poster boy for indie cinema is solid as always but here he's too old for the part he plays and his inclusion feels like the film's one error.  His manatee excitement is fun though. One of the very few glimmers of joy on display here. Waves isn't a film that will entertain you but you will be stuck to it no less.

Waves is out in selected cinemas this week. It's rare a film like this gets a showing outside of the artier places in Dublin and Galway so you should jump at the chance to see it.