FAMILIES THAT ARE HARD TO LOVE IN KNIVES OUT AND WAVES
THE LIMITS OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE ARE TESTED IN KNIVES OUT AND WAVES
YOU CAN’T CHOOSE your family – even if there may be times when you want to. This certainly rings true for the characters in Rian Johnson’s murder-mystery Knives Out and Trey Edward Shults’ harrowing Waves.
On the face of it, the films are totally divergent: one
concerns feuding over family fortunes, the other, a struggle to live up to impossible expectations. But
despite their differences, at their core lies common ground: an exploration of the ugly sides of the bonds
that bind families together, by choice or by force.
Johnson’s Knives Out chronicles an Agatha Christie-esque investigation at the house of wealthy, deceased author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). When it becomes apparent that each of his many scions had an interest in his death, the extended family and Harlan’s full-time carer Marta (Ana de Armas) are placed under investigation. Enter Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), a private detective with Hercule
Poirot’s eccentricity and flair for the dramatic. But
Craig trades in a Belgian accent for a southern drawl, and dramatic pauses for comical ones.
AS TENSIONS SOAR, IT BECOMES APPARENT THAT BLOOD MAY NOT TRULY BE THICKER THAN WATER
As his presence causes tension to soar, it soon becomes apparent that blood may not truly be thicker than water.
In Waves, Shults swaps a steadily paced plot for a more erratic exploration of a slow descent into chaos. A film of two halves, Waves opens with Tyler (Kelvin
Harrison Jr) crumbling under mounting pressure from his school, from his family – particularly his father Ronald (Sterling K Brown) – and, ultimately, from
himself. A devastating injury and worsening addiction to painkillers culminate in an overwhelming trauma.
The camera shifts focus to Tyler’s sister Emily (Taylor
Russell), struggling to live with the consequences of
others’ actions.
Yet despite their differing approaches, both films
shed light on the trying times that follow a traumatic
experience, and how families rally in support – or fall apart. They each explore how the actions of
a single individual can and do radiate outwards. Johnson explores a family utterly fixated on the
past; Shults chronicles a family desperate to break
free from its grip and live in the present.
From the uninhibitedness of raw human emotion to the lengths people will go to conceal the truth, both
films take their plots seemingly far from reality – and yet keep them very close to home.