The Wave
Directed by Roar Uthaug
- action
- thriller
- drama
The story
Although theorised, no one is really ready when a mountain pass above the scenic and narrow Geiranger fjord in Norway collapses and creates a tsunami over 300 feet high. A geologist is one of those caught in the middle of it.
What it’s like
Wide, cool-toned Scandinavian landscapes dominate: sheer green fjord walls, still grey-blue water, and a glossy, crisp digital finish that makes the mountains feel close enough to touch. The first act lingers on ordinary domestic life, a hotel lobby, a kitchen, a family packing for a new job, shot in soft interior light and steady, unhurried framing. When the disaster arrives the camera stays grounded and wide, and the effects work is large-scale and convincingly heavy, with water surging through narrow streets and an underwater sequence of murky, claustrophobic dark. Sound moves from quiet ambient hum to a rising orchestral swell and then a roar that fills the room. Vibe: tense, earnest, sun-washed dread. It suits a weekend afternoon when you want a big-screen spectacle with a grounded family at its centre. Intensity is high for the disaster stretch: peril and destruction, drowning and injury shown without gore, with fear that builds rather than shock. Pacing is patient before it turns relentless. A bit of a rough-hewn, old-fashioned blockbuster, for viewers who enjoy disaster films that take their human stakes seriously.
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