By Robert Scucci
| Published 9 seconds ago
I’m starting to really appreciate Justin Long’s innate ability to play the most unlikeable people who you somehow end up identifying with and rooting for. His characters start off abrasive, but the behavior comes from a relatable place, and he wins you over once he gets thrown into scenarios that spiral beyond his control. That trait is used perfectly in 2019’s The Wave. A vivid, hallucinogenic take on karma, cosmic balance, and ego death, The Wave works as a visual representation of stepping outside of yourself to finally understand your place in the world, for better or worse.
I can’t picture anybody else in the lead because Justin Long begins the movie as a slappable jerk. As he’s repeatedly humbled by cosmic forces he can’t navigate or influence, you want to see this slappable jerk learn something as he tries to break the time and space bending cycle he falls into while having one of the worst trips imaginable.
Talk About A Bad Trip
The Wave’s story centers on Frank (Justin Long), an insurance lawyer who earns his living by siding with corporations to make sure families in need end up bankrupt. If you’re paying $1,000 a month in premiums and get stuck with a $70,000 bill because of a loophole that doesn’t classify a blood transfusion as necessary treatment, Frank is why. He lives in a nice house, stretches his finances past the breaking point, and shares an unhappy marriage with his wife, Cheryl (Sarah Minnich). After disqualifying a dead fireman from a $4 million life-insurance payout, Frank gets the promotion he’s been chasing and heads out to celebrate with his co-worker, Jeff (Donald Faison).
They meet two women at a bar, Natalie (Katia Winter) and Theresa (Sheila Vand), and end up at a house party. While there, Frank crosses paths with a drug dealer named Aeolus (Tommy Flanagan). Already tipsy and avoiding another tense night with Cheryl, Frank ingests a powerful hallucinogen with Theresa, who earlier scolded him for working in such a cruel industry.
Frank wakes up the next morning with zero memory of what happened post-trip, but every sense in his body tells him he’s in trouble. He has to stumble through his big presentation in a chemically scrambled state while explaining to Cheryl why their bank accounts are empty. With no warning or recognizable pattern, Frank begins teleporting through various timelines, eventually learning the consequences of his choices as he jumps from one location to the next.
His ego collapses as he witnesses the fallout from an almost omniscient vantage point. Meanwhile, his attempt to track down Aeolus leads him to another dealer named Ritchie (Ronnie Gene Blevins), whose stash he immediately devours in hopes of snapping himself back into reality.
Cause And Effect On Time’s Flat Circle
Frank learns that the trip only spirals when he’s focused solely on himself. Once he begins considering the countless lives he’s harmed through his work, he discovers he can course correct the timelines through selfless choices that look unhinged in the moment but push him toward who he needs to become. Living in his own personal Groundhog Day, he has to break the cycle by pushing his ego aside and addressing the damage he’s caused.
An existential crisis wrapped in time-hopping hallucinations, The Wave is trippy, colorful, and remarkably effective at transforming inner turmoil into a visual spectacle. Justin Long’s performance stays grounded despite the chaos, and he shifts from someone you’d want to smack to someone you might actually want to hang out with once the film lands its final beat. As Frank confronts his flaws through the most chaotic means possible, you root for him because he finally learns something meaningful.
If you like your life lessons delivered alongside kaleidoscopic madness, The Wave is streaming for free on Tubi.