'Between Waves' Review | Canadian Film Fest 2021

Canadian Film Fest 2021 ran from April 1–17 and was presented by Super Channel. A lot of phenomenal Canadian-made movies were a part of the line up and I was fortunate to get to watch a few.

Check out my full coverage of CFF 2021, including reviews and filmmaker interviews!

Between Waves (2020)

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Director: Virginia Abramovich
Writers: Virginia Abramovich and Katherine Andrews
Cast: Fiona Graham, Luke Robinson, Miguel Damiao, Stacey Bernstein, Sebastian Deery

Synopsis: Even after his presumed death, Jamie continues to be visited by her lover Isaac, a quantum physicist, who pleads for her to join him in a parallel plane. Jamie follows a map and notebook Isaac’s left behind and embarks on a journey to the island of São Miguel in the Azores. At the centre of the Atlantic Ocean, Jamie begins to untangle the truth of what really happened the night Isaac disappeared, learning that she had a greater part in it than she cares to remember.

Review:

The breathtaking landscapes of the Portuguese Azores. The crashing waves against the coast. The cables overhead the Toronto streets. Between Waves is a beautiful cinematic experience with amazing visuals and a tremendous soundscape. In addition to being a beautiful looking film, Between Waves uses the sci-fi genre to perfection. Jamie's (Fiona Graham) grief is examined using physics and parallel universes. There are also hints to an unreliable narrator that gives a nod to possible issues relating to mental health.

This is a tricky film to discuss without giving away the farm. But know that Between Waves is a wonderful addition to the science-fiction genre. It's clear that Virginia Abramovich and Katherine Andrews have great reverence for the science-fiction and they wrote a script that was well thought out and well paced. You buy into the world and the high concepts easily.

A big reason for the easy buy in is the performances. Fiona Graham was tasked with shouldering a lot of responsibility in Between Waves. The high dramatics and sometimes erratic behaviour of Jamie could easily make her a difficult protagonist to root for. But the vulnerability that Graham exhibits creates a lot of empathy which gets audiences behind her and her journey. Luke Robinson is also fantastic in a tender and rich performance as Isaac.

Between Waves draws favourable comparisons to Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010) by manipulating time on different planes of reality, including an ambiguous ending. Now of course the scope of these two films are entirely different. One has a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars with the support of a legacy studio, the other is a Canadian-made and funded movie so there will be some moments and effects that don't seem as good as they could be. Between Waves shows the innovation and creativity behind Abramovich and personally, I'd love to see what she can do with a sizable budget and resources at her disposal.