{"id":8255,"date":"2019-11-15T13:03:58","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T18:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=8255"},"modified":"2019-11-15T13:06:32","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T18:06:32","slug":"powerful-honest-family-drama-waves-peers-beneath-lifes-surface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2019\/11\/powerful-honest-family-drama-waves-peers-beneath-lifes-surface.html","title":{"rendered":"Powerful, honest family drama &#8220;Waves&#8221; peers beneath life&#8217;s surface"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s the latest dispatch from the crossroads of faith and media:<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Waves | Official Trailer HD | A24\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V5z3cr8AB5g?start=25&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Waves<\/em> opens in select theaters tonight (Nov. 15) and wide over Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 29). Rated R for adult themes, language and one violent incident.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis (<a href=\"https:\/\/a24films.com\/films\/waves\">from the film&#8217;s website<\/a>): <\/strong>Set against the vibrant landscape of South Florida, and featuring an astonishing ensemble of award-winning actors and breakouts alike,\u00a0<em>Waves<\/em>\u00a0traces the epic emotional journey of a suburban African-American family\u2014led by a well-intentioned but domineering father\u2014as they navigate love, forgiveness and coming together in the aftermath of a loss. From acclaimed director Trey Edward Shults,\u00a0<em>Waves<\/em>\u00a0is a heartrending story about the universal capacity for compassion and growth even in the darkest of times. <strong>Starring: <\/strong>Sterling K. Brown, Kelvin Harrison Jr.,\u00a0Taylor Russell,\u00a0Ren\u00e9e Elise Goldsberry,\u00a0Alexa Demie and\u00a0Lucas Hedges \/\/<strong>Written &amp; Directed by:<\/strong> Trey Edward Shults<\/p>\n<p><strong>IMHO: <\/strong>Nearly forty years after Robert Redford ripped the veil off upper middle class family life in 1980&#8217;s <em>Ordinary People<\/em>, comes this generation&#8217;s remarkable addition to the genre That, in this case, the family in question is African-American may in some sense be a testament to how for society has come &#8211; but it also exemplifies how a lack communication can bedevil any family regardless of class or color. And, how individuals, families and society at large stand to benefit by a less judgement and more forgiveness.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not sure labeling <em>Waves<\/em> as a faith-based movie will enhance its much-deserved awards chances but the film forthrightly deals with issues of faith and mercy more effectively than most films that are promoted as such. Non-religious audiences who seek honest, gritty drama will find a lot savor. Likewise, those who consider themselves people of faith (and are willing to look beyond the occasional and realistic strong language) will find a movie that uses the words of the apostle Paul (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?time_continue=8&amp;v=V5z3cr8AB5g&amp;feature=emb_logo\">&#8220;Love is patient&#8230;&#8221;<\/a>) to build its heartfelt case for a kinder, gentler dynamic among families &#8211; and world in general. Yet, as clearly as that message is delivered, this is a subtle movie. At no time will you feel manipulated or hit over the head with a Bible.<\/p>\n<p>Writer-director Trey Edwards Shultz has a lot on his mind and heart but the story he has created conveys it all organically &#8211; like he&#8217;s more interested in representing non-judgemental truth than he is in delivering a &#8220;message.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As to the cast, it is first fate from top to bottom. Sterling K. Brown of TV&#8217;s <em>This is Us\u00a0<\/em>is perhaps the most well-known to general audiences and he is mesmerizing as the strong (perhaps too strong) father figure struggling to keep his family &#8211; and himself &#8211; together. And the rest of the cast shines just as brightly, including\u00a0Ren\u00e9e Elise Goldsberry (who won a Tony for her role in Broadway&#8217;s <em>Hamilton<\/em>) as his wife, business partner and stepmother of his children, Taylor Russell (of Netflix&#8217;s <em>Lost in Space<\/em> reboot) as his distraught daughter and Kelvin Harrison, Jr. as his son whose impetuous tragic action thrusts the entire family into an emotional maelstrom.\u00a0Alexa Demie (HBO&#8217;s <em>Euphoria<\/em>) and\u00a0Lucas Hedges (2018&#8217;s <em>Boy Erased<\/em>) also stand out in pivotal supporting roles.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m wary about saying too much more about this movie since it really needs to be experienced. While it&#8217;s more character-driven than plot-driven there is a plot twist, if you will, that I literally gasped at. Be forewarned, it&#8217;s shocking in the way that real life can sometimes be shocking.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Bottom Line:<\/strong> Writer-Director Trey Edward Shults proves himself a brilliant young filmmaker, delivering a powerful story with totally believable characters &#8211; while drawing award-worthy performances from an excellent cast. There&#8217;s is not a single false note to be found in <em>Waves<\/em>. <strong>Highly recommended.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><span class=\"st\">Encourage one another and build each other up &#8211; <\/span><\/em><span class=\"st\">1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s the latest dispatch from the crossroads of faith and media: Waves opens in select theaters tonight (Nov. 15) and wide over Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 29). Rated R for adult themes, language and one violent incident. Synopsis (from the film&#8217;s website): Set against the vibrant landscape of South Florida, and featuring an astonishing ensemble of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,13,1085,24,1],"tags":[9535,9530,9532,9536,9534,9531,9533,9529],"class_list":["post-8255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-family-matters","category-forgiveness","category-movies","category-uncategorized","tag-alexa-demie","tag-family-drama-waves","tag-kelvin-harrison-jr","tag-lucas-hedges","tag-renee-elise-goldsberry","tag-sterling-k-brown","tag-taylor-russell","tag-trey-edward-shults"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Powerful, honest family drama &quot;Waves&quot; peers beneath life&#039;s surface<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2019\/11\/powerful-honest-family-drama-waves-peers-beneath-lifes-surface.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Powerful, honest family drama &quot;Waves&quot; peers beneath life&#039;s surface\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here&#8217;s the latest dispatch from the crossroads of faith and media: Waves opens in select theaters tonight (Nov. 15) and wide over Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 29). 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Synopsis (from the film&#8217;s website): Set against the vibrant landscape of South Florida, and featuring an astonishing ensemble of&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2019\/11\/powerful-honest-family-drama-waves-peers-beneath-lifes-surface.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","article_published_time":"2019-11-15T18:03:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-11-15T18:06:32+00:00","author":"John W. 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Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8255"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8259,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8255\/revisions\/8259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}