A MOMENT OF MADNESS (WAVES)

Every now and again an indie film comes along that looks great but it just can't quite live up to its breathtaking ambition.

Trey Edward Shults' 'Waves' is one such film.

Gorgeously shot, this exploration of a disintgrating Florida family aims high but doesn't quite clear the bar it launches itself toward.

But give me a film with panache and ambition any day of the week.

Give me a film that tries to scale visual narrative heights.

Written, directed, edited and produced by Shults, 'Waves' is a film of two halves - the first concentrating on Kelvin Harrison Jr's promising Florida high school wrestler Tyler Williams and the second involving his younger sister, Taylor Russell's Emily.

Tyler is the golden boy of the family but with that comes intense scrutiny from his ambitious, domineering father Sterling K Brown's Ronald who often lectures him about hard work and discipline.

Renée Elise Goldsbery's warm hearted stepmother Catherine makes up the family quartet - Emily and Tyler's birth mother, we are later told, died from an overdose.

The Williams' live in a comfortable, large house and Tyler is in the throes of young love, with Alexa Demie's Alexis Lopez.

But then, Tyler's wonderful life starts to derail.

Tyler suffers a tear in his shoulder and secretly starts to pop his dad's painkillers while he conceals the injury from his wrestling coach and father.

His injury is potentially career threatening and he ignores a doctor's advice to stop wrestling altogether and get treatment.

During one match, he is badly defeated after his opponent throws him onto his shoulder causing irreparable damage.

At the same time, Alexis informs him she is pregnant and they visit an abortion clinic which is being picketed.

Alexis balks at the idea of an abortion and they leave, resulting in a bitter row on the drive home and her angrily storming out of his car.

With wrestling out of his life, Tyler starts to drink and take drugs when partying with high school friends.

An attempt to reconcile with Alexis via text message goes hideously, when she informs him that she has decided with her family to go ahead with the pregnancy.

She then blocks him because she won't let him try to persuade her to do otherwise.

Events spiral out of control on the night of the high school prom and the events will profoundly fracture the Williams' family.

Schults' movie subsequently shifts focus to Emily as the family starts to fragment.

Initially cutting a lonely figure in high school, she is approached by Lucas Hedges' hesitant Luke, a teammate of Tyler's who asks her out.

They start to date and Luke also reveals his fragmented past.

It is that revelation that offers a path to redemption.

Let's focus on the positives first.

'Waves' is beautifully shot by cinematographer Drew Daniels in a manner that recalls James Laxton's fabulous work on the Oscar winning 'Moonlight'.

It is particularly reminiscent of the work of Haskell Wexler, John Toll and Emmanuel Lubezki in various Terrence Malick films.

Malick's influence looms large over Schults' direction which also occasionally slips into moments of the sort of ethereal, mindful reflection you would find in 'The Thin Red Line' or 'Tree of Life'.

But that shouldn't surprise as the Texan has worked with Malick on three of his films - 'Song to Song,' 'Voyage of Time' and om 'Tree of Life'- getting to observe a great director at close quarters as an intern, as a post-production intern and as a film loader.

Schults draws strong performances too from his cast, with Harrison Jr, Russell and Dennie making the most of breakthrough roles and engaging our sympathies.

Brown once again demonstrates with his fierce intensity how he has become one of the most impressive actors to emerge in recent years on the small and big screen and why he needs to do more movies.

Hedges also delivers another impressive performance that gels perfectly with those around him - never upstaging Russell but enabling her to shine.

Goldsberry is a warm and welcome presence in the first half of the film but also effective as her character struggles to grapple with the catastrophic events that threatens to tear her family apart.

There's also a terrific score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

And yet, for all these pluses, 'Waves' doesn't quite add up in the way you desperately wish it would.

At a running time of 135 minutes, it feels a little bloated - a charge that can often be levelled at Malick's work of late.

Some of the reflective sequences feel like unnecessary padding.

It doesn't help that audiences will naturally cross reference the much leaner, Barry Jenkins' broken family drama 'Moonlight' which made great use of its Florida locations but also knew how to mine its sparing dialogue and sharp visuals.

Like Jenkins' film, Schults' tosses its characters around a sea of emotions.

However 'Moonlight' never gets swept out by the current.

At times a little too much in love with its own stylistic flourishes, 'Waves' occasionally loses its way as its characters emote, only for it to be pulled back to safety.

Nevertheless, the film announces Schults as a filmmaker of tremendous potential if he can learn to trim his dialogue and moments of whimsy.

With the right guiding hand, the 31 year old could go on to become a significant director.

It is a talent that needs nurturing.

('Waves' was released in UK and Irish cinemas on January 17, 2020 and was made available on DVD and streaming on April 20, 2020)