Already in a devastated place emotionally, he fractures further, and “Waves” hurtles toward tragedy, before picking itself up and becoming another film altogether. And then he finds out Alexis is pregnant.

He doesn’t even tell anyone, popping pain pills and slowly coming apart at the seams. A shoulder injury could derail his senior year and even college prospects, and Tyler does not have the support structure or skill set to deal with his life’s plan being entirely dismantled. He seems like a man who a future therapist will call abusive but who honestly believes he’s doing what it takes to make his son successful.Īnd then Tyler’s world collapses. Brown), but dad points out that young black men have to work ten times harder than their white counterparts. Sure, he butts head with a stern father named Ronald ( Sterling K. He’s a successful athlete in a loving relationship. Shults captures Tyler’s life with a fluid camera, conveying the constant motion of youth and its boundless joy. Tyler’s sister is a sweet girl named Emily ( Taylor Russell) and he has a supportive stepmother named Catherine (Renee Elise Goldsberry) and a girlfriend named Alexis ( Alexa Demie). Shults’ camera, guided by his regular cinematographer Drew Daniels, glides through the life of a handsome, happy, successful Florida teen named Tyler ( Kelvin Harrison Jr.).

Waves 10 complete review