Waves Trey Edward Shultz Best Work Yet, A Fantastic Work of Art Grade: A-

Source: IMDB

Waves is a film that takes place in Florida, that is set on a suburban African American family. Witness a journey that’ll emotionally wreck you, as a once happy family, becomes completely crushed by unfortunate events. I gotta say the Cinematography in this film: Completely breathtaking, outstanding looking film. Not only every single shot is capture so beautifully, but the camera work in this film is also fantastic that I’m still unsure how they accomplish the shots they captured in this film. What also surprised me about the Cinematography was the different aspect ratios, Trey Edwards Shultz uses four different aspect ratios, which I’m still confused why he did that. He did the same thing with his previous film It Comes At Night, but with that film there is meaning behind the different aspect ratios, as for Waves... I don’t quite understand this decision making, but it still works just fine with the film, a small distraction you might say. I really enjoyed the Score in this film and also found the soundtrack to be extremely dope. Trey Edward Shultz uses a lot of modern day music trends and how they’re selected in particularly scenes, is done perfectly. Whether it be Tyler the Creator’s IFHY in that intense emotional break down scene or especially Kanye West’s I Am God in that intense rage tantrum scene... I mean good God Shultz is hitting the right notes. The cast all in all was pretty great as a whole, long shot for best ensemble cast for a SAG award, but I honestly found everyone to be really good. Kelvin Harrison Jr. broke new ground in his earlier film Luce giving a pretty great performance, but as far as Waves he does a similar job, another impressive performance. There are some difficult situations Kelvin has to deliver in some scenes and somehow someway... Kelvin doesn’t hold back and gives it his all, as he delivered yet again, be on the look out for this actor in the future indeed. His character Tyler was a pretty good character, that made us happy and proud, but then we suddenly discover major disappointment with this character at the end of the first half, leaving us not only stunned but a bit sadden, just because this young man had a lot of promise to become a great individual. Taylor Russell playing Tyler’s sister t’was pretty good as well, as she finishes on a high note in the second half of the film, solid character as well. Sterling K Brown typically gives a pretty good performance wherever he goes, whether it be film or TV. In this film I found Sterling K Brown yet again to be extremely good, the father figure of these children really puts an arrow to your heart I tell ya. A couple supporting performances I did enjoy as well. First coming from Alexa Demie playing Tyler’s significant other was pretty good, she’s been having somewhat of a breakout year with this and A24’s popular show on HBO Euphoria. I also really enjoyed Lucas Hedges playing Emily’s significant other as well, had some memorable powerful scenes in his performance. I guess one other flaw worth mentioning other than the confusion between the aspect ratios, certainly comes from a small portion of the second half. I do believe the second half is not nearly as great as the first half of the film, but my problem is it certainly drags in certain scenes. The first film I’ve seen from Trey Edward Shultz came from 2017’s It Comes At Night, which I didn’t like. The only thing I really enjoyed from that film is the first act, besides that it certainly lost it’s momentum for me, leaving me in disappointment. I did however watched Shultz debut film Krisha, which I found that to be extremely impressive... That is a certified gem. So given Shultz has wow’d me in the past, certainly riding on the A24 wave still... Maybe he can bounce back from his sophomore disappointment. Waves is absolutely an outstanding work of art, as I believe this is Shultz best film yet. It reminds me of Moonlight in a way, which both have the similarity of both taken place in some part in Florida. Not only is this film breathtaking to watch, but it certainly feels like watching an experience that can certainly never end if they want to. The story was absolutely terrific, extremely emotional yet intense journey, that can be relatable to everyone’s life metaphorically speaking. You start off life feeling extremely happy, having a lot of promise in what your future can hold, where you feel nothing can go wrong. Then you’re hit with a bunch of downfalls, where you never can seem to recover because it all feels rock bottom from here. It just really hits home, the film makes you feel extremely vulnerable. The first half of this film starts out pretty normal, like a basic wealthy family enjoying their son’s success of being a scholar athlete with the beautiful girlfriend. But then a hiccup comes up in the young mans life, as it all suddenly goes downhill. It goes from a jolly vibe to an extremely intense and even horrific vibe, where your on the edge of your seat, feeling worried for this young mans life... Like he was your own child. I’ve seen many complaints with the second half of this film, which in some degree I can understand why. The film suddenly shifts from another character, as it’s not as interesting as Tyler. But for me my time was still well invested in this young girls battle with grieving of her lost, as she’s trying to be stronger day by day. It was refreshing to watch her and her significant other having a lovely understanding relationship, while also being open to recover her and her fathers relationship. This entire film felt like an emotional roller coaster for me, where I honestly felt completely depressed in the best way possible. The ending for me felt bitter sweet, it was all sudden as I didn’t expect it to close out like that. Overall, Waves is a fantastic film and certainly one of the best films of the year. I highly recommend this film, support a beautifully crafted work of art. Well done Trey Edward Shultz... Bless ya heart my man. Glad to have experience this film with my best bud Mihran, it’s always refreshing to have someone to appreciate pure cinema with. -Mitch Smietana