Cannes 2025: Chilean musical magnificent “The Wave” stimulates
by Alex Billington
May 26, 2025
The Cannes Film Festival once again includes a musical without sight that will shock and surprise and dazzled the public. Last year, the ambitious musical (and ultimately controversial by Jacques Audiard Emilia Perez Created in Cannes. This year, the new film by Chilean director Sebastián Lelio The wave Created in Cannes – but not in the main competition. The wave (Initially called The wave In Spanish) is another modern massively ambitious musical, daring and lively, daring to sing and dance on songs on uncomfortable subjects and difficult conversations. Lelio The wave is inspired by 2018 feminist demonstrations in the major universities of Chile that year, which were part of the world #Me too movement (just before the arrival of the pandemic). It is a story about a young woman named Julia, although it is also a story on all Women and how misogyny still governs in this patriarchal society. It is a stimulating film on standing women, to retaliate and never give up until there is change. A magnificent creation! It shook me and left me impressed.
The wave is the last feature film directed by the successful Chilean director Sebastián Lelio – better known as the director of acclaimed films Gloria (And his remake Gloria Bell),, A fantastic woman,, DisobedienceAnd Wonder previously. The scenario is written in collaboration featuring: Josefina Fernández, Manuela Infante, Paloma Salas and the director Sebastián Lelio. This evocative and revealing film is a complete musical With the arrest of Broadway songs and dances – massive performances where the young distribution of hundreds of dances around the university. It is this year that I do not lift a musical – which is forward. I noticed (often in film festivals) that too many people who don’t really like musicals try to watch musicals and then get upset that they are musical. Stop doing this! The wave is an exciting musical that tries to use Song and Dance to improve the story it tells about this 2018 feminist movement in Chile. There are several songs on rape and sexual assault, accusations and the legal process, challenge the rules of the university and the organization of demonstrations, and what is a woman in the world. This is not an easy subject to approach, but they go away and they absolutely Delivered – it strikes hard and shakes things in a fascinating way. Well done, well done!
The story follows the actress / singer Daniela López As Julia, a woman in the music department in a prestigious University of Santiago, Chile. After a night with another student who is mistaken, she joins the protest movement which is expressed against rape and sexual assault, because the school never does much whenever it happens. The wave makes an intelligent decision to ensure that the heart of the film is literally And Metaphorically find your voice. She is a singer and must learn to find her real voice as a singer, but she is also a young woman who must find her voice in this movement, learn to speak as a feminist and to fight for a real change. Especially since someone has taken an incident. All the musical numbers and all the choreography are great – the way hundreds of students dance like a “wave”, with the more intimate performances where the song on the accusations comes into play. Perhaps another musical has already done so, but I was impressed by the dance of their protest, the implementation of masks and resuming it by singing and learning. This film will impress anyone who knows and already loves musicals, it is the kind of breathtaking spectacular that would get Tony Awards if he played Broadway. (And maybe it will appear there soon.)
Lelio actually takes a break to address the elephant in the room – at some point during the grand finale, the film literally stops mid song and breaks the fourth wall. “Why is this film made by a white man?” They ask, because it is supposed to be all about women who take care of and make people better and safer for women. Alas, the film quickly passes after this rhythm, despite the asking of this intriguing question. What is most refreshing is that the film does not really have all the answers. There is no conclusion to everything that is happening in this area, it’s not just “Well, that’s what we have to do and that’s it, we have done!” The world is not Really Better yet, unfortunately. But I will repeat that it is of an importance of vital and extraordinarily stimulating importance that this film even exists. These events in 2018 (and in the world) have occurred, and even if they do not change exactly everything, this film captures them for the good of history. We always know that these young hard -causing girls have taken out, have taken major risks, courageously challenged the system and retaliated – and that is incredible. And it is just as surprising that they could translate this story into a musical as creative, revolutionary and impressive using the power of cinema to immortalize these courageous women.
Alex’s Cannes 2025 note: 8.5 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @Firsthowing / Or letterboxd – @firsshowing
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