In Waves movie review: An eloquent account of first love, painful loss, and the joy of surfing

The first animated film to open the Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival. In waves It’s a simple marvel, its elegant hand-painted simplicity underpinned by a powerful emotional line. His love story — poignant, tender, and painful — begins with a goofy meet-cute in suburban Los Angeles high school between AJ, an introverted skateboarder, and Christine, a daring surfer. They are lively characters brought to warm life through simple animation and wonderful performances by Will Sharp and Stephanie Hsu. In just a few years these two move from red-hot infatuation to friendship to committed partnership, and will weather some of life’s harshest storms.

Based on AJ Dungo’s 2019 graphic novel of the same name, In waves Driven by the immediacy of autobiography; Its main character, AJ (Sharp), is a visual artist whose life is changed by Christine (Hsu) and her love of surfing. Phuong My Nguyen, directing her feature debut, brings a mercurial, sensual intensity to every frame of the film, from the sunny watercolor palette of the SoCal coastal setting to the black-and-white scenes of the imagined Hawaiian princess, whose symbolic heroism—and connection to Christine—becomes more poignant every time she appears. In addition to these monochromatic sequences, the main action is interrupted with scenes of AJ foreshadowing a solo interlude for the surfer and committed artist.

At the beginning of the story, AJ is, in the words of his best friend Francisco (Alejandro Antonio Ruiz), “aquaphobia”—a situation that Christine wastes no time correcting, urging the shy surfer into the ocean and teaching him how to surf. Along with her brother Jeff (Griffin Poitou) and cousin Eon (Johnny Young), they form a tight quartet. AJ’s new friends become an especially important part of his life after Francisco’s departure. The boys’ awkward goodbye is a prime example of what Fanny Bordino and Samuel Doe’s screenplay does so well about adolescence, as is the puzzling suspension of time after a boy texts the girl he can’t stop thinking about.

The characters’ athleticism speaks volumes as well, from skateboard-level action on the docks to the moments when AJ awakens to the physical thrills and transcendent mysteries of catching a wave. Christine’s surfing lessons extend beyond the physical to the historical: she tells about the legendary father of modern surfing, Duke Kahanamoku, and how missionaries who colonized Hawaii banned surfing, a part of the local culture dating back centuries. For the Filipino American characters at the heart of the drama, cultural identity is one aspect among many, and not always highlighted directly; Like the snippets of Tagalog spoken by Christine’s father, they are an organic part of everyday life.

The romance between Kristen and AJ follows familiar paths from spark to spark, but the way those moments are presented can be dazzling. They share their first kiss under a gorgeous dark sky, and the sight of AJ’s cheerful house sledding in the rain would make Gene Kelly proud.

This whole sweeping expanse ends with a sudden health crisis for Christine, the beginning of which is signaled with witty brevity in a midnight catastrophe that leaves her helpless. It wasn’t long after Kristen faced a life-threatening illness and severe medical ordeal that she and AJ made their relationship official with her parents. Every decision becomes an expression of perseverance and determination, but also an acknowledgment that things can change in an instant. Christine finds her way back to her natural vitality, but the brightness burns differently. An overhead shot of the four friends together again on their boards, waiting for a wave on the sunset-pink Pacific Ocean, is a stunning, serene shot full of emotion and hard-earned knowledge.

The excellent English-language cast (the festival is showing both this version and the French version, scheduled for July in France and Belgium) includes several actors pulling double and triple duty as supporting and background characters. At the center of the film, Sharpe and Hsu create a compelling dynamic contrast as two smart, career-minded people ready to build a life together. A trip to New York—filmed with a verve that complements the story’s West Coast setting—finds AJ and Kristen in a paradox: more committed to each other than ever, and also lying to each other about big things.

In this tale of body and soul, Nguyen (director and artist in the French series) tells the story of… Culotte And storyboard artist Ole & Moon Show) strikes a careful balance between narrative and visual language, and the images are supported by musical contributions and outstanding voice work: the whoosh of waves, the wind combing palm fronds, the scratching of marks on a surfboard or paper.

Water is the connective tissue of drama. With remarkable fluency, In waves He captures their textures, paths, varying degrees of transparency and, with a nice crafty touch, the way they can splash across the camera lens. Eventually, Kristen, AJ, Jeff, and Eon made their way from the Southland to the Northwest Corner; It is a journey into icy beauty and a kind of horror, but no less, a headlong plunge into the balm of love. This is a film that effortlessly combines primitive poetry and vitality. Her aching heart understands that a gorgeous full moon can illuminate one of the most painful moments of your life.