Waves

                                           ‘You gotta learn to balance it Ty.’ - Ronald

Many of us aspire to be able do everything and be able to perfectly balance it all. It’s the same for Tyler Williams who juggles his grades, being a wrestler, having a girlfriend and playing the piano. Although, at one-point Tyler makes us and himself believe that he’s got it all under control, when thing falls out of balance his life quickly spirals out of control.

From the trailer, I imagined the film would be more focused on Sterling K. Brown’s character, Ronald Williams - Tyler’s father, and in some ways it is. He intimidates his son and forgets his daughter until they both end up lashing out from his control.

Waves begins with Tyler and his girlfriend Alexis Lopez singing in his car as the camera rotates around them. The camera spinning upon first look is a cool technique but then becomes symbolically for Tyler losing grip over his almost perfect life.

Alexa Demie is the only member of the cast that I am familiar with as she is a star on TV drama series Euphoria. Her character Alexis is quite similar to her breakout role Maddy Perez as both teens have to deal with aggressive boyfriends that they are deeply in love with. With both characters you are aware of their Latin heritage without it defining the character much like with the Williams family. The film includes references to the black American experience, as Ronald tells Tyler that he needs to work ten times harder to get to the same position as some of his white counterparts; however, the theme that is dealt with in the majority of the film is the consequences of parents burdening their children with their own dreams and fears is much more important.

Surprisingly a positive can be taken from Tyler’s breakdown, as it allows for focus to be placed on his younger sister Emily, who is otherwise overlooked. The second half shows Emily’s journey as she finds her own path without the parental supervision that potentially suffocated her brother.

Each siblings story teaches the need to forgive and let go despite how difficult it may be.

The movies soundtrack features many popular rap and R&B songs from artists like H.E.R, Frank Ocean and Tyler the Creator. For me when a film uses a song that I know, with purpose, it intensifies every emotion within the scene. As Tyler recites Kendrick Lamar’s Backseat Freestyle you can see clearly his desire to be the “big man on campus” that he once was.

Trey Edwards Shults writing and directing for Waves is inspiring as he was able to effectively tell two different stories. It highlights the impacts of social pressures, parents burdening their children as well as the importance of open dialogue as many of upsetting moments in the film were avoidable if the Williams family were able to openly communicate. Although the film has a few dark turns it is still visually quite vibrant.