Traces the journey of a suburban African-American family – led by a well-intentioned but domineering father – as they navigate love, forgiveness, and coming together in the aftermath of a loss.
A coming-of-age film about a teenager named Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) who’s trying to navigate his privileged life of demanding parents Ronald (Sterling K. Brown) and Catherine (Renée Elise Goldsberry), rigorous training for the wrestling team, drinking with his buddies and of course, spending time with the love of his life, Alexis (Alexa Demi). When she announces that she is pregnant, things between them get intense as she decides to keep the baby then breaks up with him over text. As she purposely posts pictures of prom night without him, Tyler’s built-up anger gets the best of him and he shows up to the prom and makes the biggest mistake of his life.
The terrible events of prom night lead to a disastrous downfall of Tyler and his family but then the movie takes a turn and runs off somewhere else. Suddenly, it’s not about Tyler’s life and struggles but now the focus is on the little sister Emily (Taylor Russell) who began as a quiet character but blossoms towards the end of the film. She meets a nice young man named Luke (Lucas Hedges) and her story unfolds as she falls in love and reveals her hidden pain.
The film starts off stagnant, as it takes too long to figure out what the main storyline is but once it gets there it keeps your focus. When Tyler’s story ends and his sister’s begins, I feel like I couldn’t stop thinking about Tyler and was hoping for more of a completion. I feel like the movie could have literally ended with wrapping up her brother’s story and leaving her’s out. “Waves” is a good film once it gets started but should have ended long before it did.
In Theaters Friday, November 15th
