Exploration of Love and Grief in Various Forms: A Heartfelt Declaration Delving into the Complexities of Affection and Desolation
Trey Edward Shults, a versatile figure in the film industry as a director, writer, producer, and actor, has released his latest film, Waves. This searing story about a family pushed to the brink of destruction and their journey towards rebirth and renewal is a deeply personal statement on love and loss.
Waves places the family dynamic front and center, underscoring what is arguably the central theme of Shults' growing body of work. Centered on an African-American family living in South Florida, the film is also an examination of parental pressure and the limitations of parental love.
Sterling K. Brown, who plays the stern and uncompromising patriarch Ronald Williams, says his character believes he must be hard on his son to protect him from the world. The film is a deeply emotional journey, tracing the different trajectories and coping strategies of two South Florida siblings.
Shults' second feature, It Comes At Night, was also a family drama weaved into a genre film. His directorial debut, Waves, was released in 2015 with Krisha, an emotional re-telling of a real-life incident involving Shults' cousin's alcoholism. Krisha won several awards and established his filmmaking skills.
The film is largely synchronized to music, mixing contemporary songs from artists like Animal Collective, Kendrick Lamar, and Radiohead with an original score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Shults and his cinematographer Drew Daniels heightened the subjectivity of the characters in Waves in bold and adventurous ways.
Waves is a uniquely structured story of American life, featuring over 50 locations across 35 shooting days. It's a uniquely bifurcated movie, split into two distinct segments and conjoined by a virtuoso middle passage.
This film has been gestating for nearly a decade, beginning before Shults made It Comes At Night and Krisha. Shults made his directorial debut in 2010 with the short film "Mother and Son." He worked on Terrence Malick's films as a film loader, post-production intern, and intern.
In Waves, Shults took great care to curate a song selection that corresponds with his characters' subjectivity. The film examines love in its myriad incarnations, tracing how it can both push people apart and draw them together. Waves is a poignant and powerful addition to Shults' body of work, showcasing his ability to tell compelling and emotional stories about the human condition.
