The Wave (2019)

“Scorsese’s AFTER HOURS meets Joseph Kahn’s DETENTION”

Quirky, entertaining and really quite strange at times, director Gille Klabin’s THE WAVE is getting a digital release in the UK from Miracle Media.

Frank (Justin Long in a typical Justin Long role) is a lawyer who specialises in spotting issues with life insurance claims to make sure the company he works for doesn’t have to pay out. After facilitating the company’s denial of a $4 million payout to a fireman who died of a heart attack, Frank decides to leave his nagging wife for the evening and spend a night on the town with buddy Jeff (Donald Faison from Scrubs).

They meet a couple of girls at a bar and move on to a party where Frank is given an unspecified hallucinogen. The next morning he wakes up in the house to find everyone has left, the place is in a mess, and the owners (who have been away) calling the police. But that’s only the beginning of Frank’s problems.

Because as well as being a hallucinogen the drug has the side effect of distorting not just space but time. Frank’s wallet has been stolen and his bank account cleared out. Theresa (Sheila Vand) who he met the previous night might be able to help but she has disappeared. As reality starts to bend and Frank is thrown backwards and forwards in time he begins to realises that the universe might have a purpose in all this.

Reminiscent of Joseph Kahn’s DETENTION in the way seemingly unrelated events all fit together neatly by the end, Frank’s journey to find his purpose also involves him meeting some curious characters, making him a little like Griffin Dunne in AFTER HOURS. It takes a little while for you to realise what’s going on but by the end THE WAVE is a satisfying and extremely neat drama that’s worth a look.

THE WAVE is out on Digital from Miracle Media on Monday 21st September 2026