Waves is sonically ambitious. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross contributed to the score, supplemented by a carefully curated pop and R&B soundtrack. The sound design is immersive: music often bleeds into dialogue, internal monologues are presented with reverberant textures, and ambient noise escalates tension in non-diegetic ways. The interplay of score and pop songs underscores emotional beats rather than merely accompanying them, with tracks used to articulate the characters’ interior lives.
The second half of Waves is a deliberate shock to the system. We shift focus to Tyler’s gentle sister, Emily (Taylor Russell), and the aspect ratio widens to a more panoramic 2.35:1. The chaotic, saturated colors give way to a muted, naturalistic palette of earthy greens and soft golds. The pace slows to a meditative crawl. This is the film’s radical gambit: abandoning its protagonist to explore the quiet, devastating work of survival. Where the first half was about the crash, the second half is about the wreckage. Emily, reeling from her brother’s crime and her family’s dissolution, finds a tentative connection with a kind, soft-spoken teammate (Lucas Hedges). Their romance is not a distraction; it is an act of radical healing. Shults suggests that after tragedy, the most revolutionary thing a person can do is simply learn to be loved again. waves 2019
, substance abuse, and intense pressure to succeed, culminating in a violent, irreversible tragedy. Part Two: The Recession (Emily): Waves is sonically ambitious