PLOT: AJ meets Kristen in high school. Kristen loves surfing. When illness upends Kristen’s life, they face adversity with dignity while sharing their passion for surfing and the ocean.
REVIEW: I needed to go for a walk after watching Phuong Mai Nguyen’s In Waves, one of the most flawless, affecting, and devastating animated films I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched cancer take someone apart from the inside out. Still, it’s an emotionally debilitating process powered by soft words, false hope, and questions about the future no one should need to ask themselves.
In Nguyen’s adaptation of AJ Dungo’s 2019 graphic novel, AJ (Will Sharpe) meets Kristen (Stephanie Hsu), and his interest in her is immediate and unrelenting. AJ is an artist who shreds the concrete curbs of California with his friends. Kristen is a wild-eyed beauty with a deep and abiding passion for surfing. When she offers to teach AJ to surf, the two quickly become inseparable, falling deeper in love with each passing moment while creating an unbreakable bond most of us can only dream of.
One night, Kristen wakes to a pulsing pain in her leg. After a doctor’s visit and a litany of tests, she’s diagnosed with cancer. As the disease works its way through her young body, Kristen and AJ confront a future where they’re no longer together, and the hope of a better tomorrow comes in and out like waves lapping along a rocky shore.
I was warned about In Waves before watching it, about how it would destroy me. My first instinct after finishing the film was to email this person to playfully curse them out, blaming them for what I’d been reduced to in the film’s final moments. When I tell you I was a mess, I literally approached my wife (after the credits rolled) with tears flowing from my eyes, unable to speak in anything more than a hoarse whisper. For the life of me, I can’t remember the last time I’d seen a movie so perfectly executed.
Yes, In Waves is sad, but more importantly, it’s beautiful in every way, shape, and form. The movie mixes serene, sun-drenched elegance with Dungo’s original art to great effect, creating a world that feels like a nexus between the sweetest dreams and tragic nightmares. The use of light is particularly breathtaking, as sunlight outlines shaking leaves and bounces off the crest of arching waves. Parts of the movie reminded me of naps on an empty beach, while others became out of focus as harsh realities dawned.
The voice performances by Will Sharpe (AJ) and Stephanie Hsu (Kristen) are rapturous, with both summoning every emotion under the sun to convey the couple’s complex relationship. At the film’s start, AJ is trapped in a shell of his own design, and Kristen inspires him to crack the exterior and emerge as a careful, caring individual. Kristen teaches AJ to go beyond his limits, while he gives her a reason to slow down, wait for the next wave, and float while squinting at the sun. While I’m making their relationship sound flawless, it’s often marred by the looming shadow of Kristen’s illness. Her battle with cancer, and the push-and-pull required to keep hope alive, adds genuine drama to their dynamic, scratching away at the perfection like a diamond against a polished lens.
Strengthening the film’s insistence on keeping good company during hard times is AJ and Kristen’s friend group. Not to be left on the sidelines, I genuinely love the secondary characters in this story. Especially Jeff (Gauthier Battoue), Kristen’s brother and AJ’s close friend, whose ride-or-die affection for the couple is unwavering and aspirational. He’s the type of old soul who would give you the clothes off your back and hold you until all the tears leave your body. I’ve only known one person in real life as loyal as him, and I think about this person every day, despite living in a different country. Battoue brings an exceptional amount of warmth, concern, and understanding to Jeff, helping to make him a powerful character who stands out amidst the core story.
Before I left for my walk, I hugged my wife like it was the only thing I was put on this Earth to do. I’ve gotten sentimental as I’ve aged, and after seeing something as thought-provoking and inspirational as In Waves, I can’t help but feel a sense of awe at the way Nguyen translated Dungo’s vision to the silver screen. The animation, color palette, and vibes are nothing short of majestic, and it all moves to a gripping soundtrack. There isn’t a single song in the list that doesn’t shine, like the life-affirming track “Bizness” by tUnE-yArDs, or “jtm de ouf” by ELOI. I’ve already saved the playlist on Spotify, and it makes me want to get up and move my bones.
It’s been hours since I finished watching In Waves, and I’m still feeling the aftershocks. I feel like a tornado of emotions, knowing that I’ve seen what I would consider a perfect animated film. I surfed my first wave during a perfect storm of story, sound, and the feeling you get when you’re grateful for what you have in this wicked world. I urge you to open your heart to this movie and feel every gorgeous and terrible emotion it unleashes inside you.
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