Waves

The movie Waves is a commentary on how toxic masculinity negatively affects both men and women alike. It follows the Williams family, a family living in a suburb of South Florida. Throughout the movie, it is shown that Ronald pressures his son, Tyler, to be a star athlete and student. The more that Ronald pressures his son to be successful, the more Tyler shuts down. He begins to go to parties, drink, and have outbursts by punching the wall or berating his mother. This reveals that Tyler’s only concept of expressing his thoughts and emotions is through violence- a behavior learned through his father. This message is also conveyed by the red lighting in the first half of the movie. Tyler’s consumption of drugs and alcohol becomes a coping mechanism for his frustrations.

This theme is also displayed through another aspect of the movie. Tyler has a girlfriend, named Alexis, and she falls pregnant in the film. Tyler attempts to convince her to get an abortion, but she decides not to go through with it, causing them to argue and subsequently breakup. He later finds her at a party, where they argue further. The argument soon becomes physical, and Tyler pushes Alexis to the ground, causing her to hit her head and pass away. This is the climax of the movie, where generational toxic masculinity finally has devastating impacts on other people outside of the family. Tyler is sentenced, and the Williams family is in ruin.

The film changes pace and tone in its latter half as it follows Emily, the daughter of the Williams’ family and Tyler’s sister. It contrasts Emily’s near non-presence in the male-dominated first half of the film with the second half, which is fueled by Emily and her stepmother’s struggle to grapple with the consequences of the actions of the men in their family.

At first, Emily isolates herself by staying at home, deleting her social media, and listening to her parents argue. However, she begins to fall in love with her classmate, Luke. This frees her from the confines of her family home and she even makes new friends. In this new world that she has created, she is no longer is she defined by her family’s actions. She is defined by what her vulnerability can manifest in her life.

The film unfolds the perils of toxic masculinity when men are pushed too far and the trauma that women deal with in the aftermath. Once the men in the family are held responsibility for their actions and their toxic masculinity is no longer tolerated, Emily and her mother are able to grow from the trauma they were put through,