THE STORY – AJ, meets Kristen in high school. Kristen is passionate about surfing. AJ, Kristen’s life starts falling apart, shattered by illness. They fight with adversity dignity and enjoy their shared passion for surfing and for the ocean.
THE CAST – Will Sharpe & Stephanie Hsu
THE TEAM – Phuong Mai Nguyen (Director) & Fanny Burdino, Samuel Doux & AJ Dungo (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 91 minutes
From “Robot Dreams” and “Flow” to “Arco” and “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain,” some of the most celebrated animated films in recent years had the Cannes Film Festival as a springboard. The festival’s showcase continues this year with Phuong Mai Nguyen’s “In Waves,” an ethereal experience that maintains Cannes as a prime showcase for animated storytelling. Part melodrama and part coming-of-age romance, “In Waves” is a luminous ode to the people who float into our lives when we least expect them, and become wrinkles in time when they depart. It’s a gorgeous depiction of how grief comes in waves, with stunning transitions between artistic expression and day-to-day heartache. It’s also a vivid adaptation of AJ Dungo’s best-selling graphic novel of the same name. Nguyen works wonders on the visual front, adding cinematic dimension to this narrative and retaining the beating heart of AJ’s story. Emerging as an exciting filmmaker to watch, she makes an incredibly poignant splash with her sun-kissed directorial debut feature.
“In Waves” begins with the historical context of Hawaiian surfing culture. Told without dialogue, this black-and-white animated segment spotlights how we can understand the significance of contemporary surfing through its pre-colonial origins. Riding waves was intertwined with sacred rituals. With stunning visuals and a succinct narrative, the origin story sets a precedent for observing surfing through a soulful lens. The film then transitions to modern-day Sacramento, California, where the core story unfolds. AJ (voiced by Will Sharpe) is an awkward, shy teenage student whose loves include skateboarding and drawing. He finds an everlasting kind of love the moment he meets Kristen (voiced by Stephanie Hsu), a classmate he had worked up the courage to message. The two fall in love, and when Kristen introduces him to her passion for surfing, their worlds melt into one.
Splashes of joy turn into tides of grief when Kristen is diagnosed with cancer. As she and AJ fight against the limited time and continue to pursue their passions against the odds, their relationship grows stronger. When the story reaches this development, there is some hesitancy around whether the subject matter will receive an overly sentimental treatment. “The Fault in Our Stars” rushes to mind as an archetype of the maudlin approach we often see in films about terminal illness. While “In Waves” explores familiar subject matter, it also feels refreshingly creative in its visuals. The film adheres to the touchstone of living life to the fullest, and mirrors it with the gorgeous visuals of Kristen and AJ bonding with the ocean. For them, surfing is all about riding the wave of something bigger than themselves, and it’s a sentiment that deftly applies to navigating a terminal illness.
The film also feels distinctive in how it defines the characters beyond Kristen’s illness. The FX series “Dying for Sex,” based on the life of Molly Kochan after her cancer diagnosis, touches on “the rally,” which refers to a boost of energy and mental clarity that a cancer patient might feel when they approach their final days. There is a similarly subversive moment in “In Waves” when Kristen experiences a newfound zest for life after undergoing treatment for the first time. She suddenly approaches AJ with a life plan, envisioning marriage and children for their future together. This scene exemplifies one of several moments wherein Nguyen’s approach feels deeply personal and respectful towards the real-life inspiration behind this story.
As Kristen shares, she wants to live on through AJ’s drawings. The most impressive element of “In Waves” is the animation, which echoes Kristen’s wishes and lends perfectly to the concept of grief, which is so often tricky to articulate through words alone. From the first frame, the fluid animation style washes over you like a gentle ocean breeze. The fluidity of the water is put to excellent use, whether in transition shots from ripples to sketches, or in an ominous black-and-white wave from the origin story that signals a dramatic turn in the modern-day story. The film spotlights AJ’s stunning illustrative work as an artist; we see his drawing board covered in pencil shavings, his loving portraits of Kristen in a variety of forms, and the interactive surfer flip book he makes for her, among countless other examples. Additionally, Roberto Fernandez’s editing deserves a major shoutout for finding brilliant transition shots throughout. The film’s pacing mirrors the feeling of a graphic novel brought to life, delightfully retaining the storyboard spirit of the source material.
The original music composed by Oklou (Marylou Mayniel) and Rob (Robin Coudert) also enhances the story’s emotional beats. There is a choral swell to their sounds that feels faintly reminiscent of “Titanic”; sure enough, James Cameron’s epic is humorously referenced when AJ and Kristen emerge from the water, kissing against a pink-blue sky. From the glowing color palettes and immersive animation to the compelling voice performances, each element of “In Waves” brings a uniquely personal yet universal experience to life with resounding vibrancy. Bursting with creativity and a mature approach to sensitive subject matter, it’s a film that celebrates deep connections to nature, and to making each moment count.
