Between Waves starts with our two leads, played by Fiona Graham and Luke Robinson, bathing together. Within seconds, Fiona’s Jamie is in the tub alone, with the lone remnant of Luke’s Isaac being a missing persons poster floating in the water. This heavy moment, established straight away, begins pumping the unconventional sci-fi film with atmosphere. The beauty behind the strange visuals is effective, and leaves you anxious for answers to the various questions posed by the story. Between Waves fails to live up to the promise of the opening scene. Interesting visuals and cinematography peppered throughout showcase promising directorial skill.
Even after his alleged death, Jamie is frequently visited by her lover, Isaac. He pleads with Jamie to join him in a parallel dimension, with little interest for how this will affect either dimension. Jamie follows clues left by Isaac in his notebooks, leading her to an island where she hopes to find out the truth of his disappearance.
The mysterious plot is light on answers and stumbles through clumsy dialogue and scripting. Both the direction and acting are considerably better than the film surrounding them. 2021’s Long Weekend blends sci-fi with romance to better success. With a narrative never quite sure whether to go full-blown sci-fi or rich epic romance, Between Waves fails to make more than a tiny ripple.
