What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Waves
Virginia Woolf · Book · 2017
If you loved The Waves, start with The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002) — a film on the same thread. Below: 3 films, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Waves across media.
What hooked you in The Waves was the way interiority and consciousness fracture the boundaries between separate, individual lives.
Films on the same thread
The Hours
Stephen Daldry · Film · 2002
Shares a thread with The Waves: Existentialism.
Like The Waves, this film investigates the weight of mortality and existential yearning, weaving together the disparate inner lives of women to explore the profound nature of female identity.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Mike Nichols · Film · 1966
Explores: Toxic Relationships, Marital Discord, Existential Angst.
You will recognize the claustrophobic intellectualism of The Waves here, as the characters strip away social veneers to expose the raw, painful existential angst hidden beneath their troubled domestic lives.
Wavelength
Michael Snow · Film · 1967
Explores: spatial duration, phenomenology of perception, meditative observation.
This film mirrors the experimental structure of The Waves by shifting the focus from traditional narrative toward a meditative, phenomenological exploration of how time and space shape human perception.
Series on the same thread
The Waltons
Earl Hamner, Jr. · Series · 1972
Explores: Family Values, Rural Life, Great Depression.
If The Waves hit, The Waltons shares the thread.
Friends
Marta Kauffman · Series · 1994
Explores: Friendship, Relationships, Coming of Age.
If The Waves hit, Friends shares the thread.
The Twilight Zone
Rod Serling · Series · 1959
Shares a thread with The Waves: Existentialism.
Much like the shifting soliloquies in The Waves, this series utilizes a fragmented anthology format to probe deep existential questions, paranoia, and the complex moral dilemmas of the human condition.
The L Word
Ilene Chaiken · Series · 2004
Shares a thread with The Waves: Identity.
If The Waves hit, The L Word shares the thread.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Archers
Podcast
Explores: family life, community, farming.
If The Waves hit, The Archers shares the thread.
The Telepathy Tapes
Ky Dickens · Podcast · 2026
Explores: consciousness exploration, unexplained phenomena, human potential.
This podcast echoes the inquiry into the nature of consciousness found in The Waves, centering on non-speaking individuals to explore the boundaries of subjective experience and human potential.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Waves written as a traditional novel?
No, The Waves is considered Virginia Woolf's most experimental work. Instead of a traditional narrative, it consists of soliloquies spoken by six characters—Bernard, Susan, Rhoda, Neville, Jinny, and Louis—which are broken up by nine brief third-person interludes that span the characters' lives.
Does Percival speak in The Waves?
Although Percival is an important seventh character in The Waves, readers never hear him speak in his own voice. The narrative structure relies entirely on the soliloquies of the other six main characters to convey the story and their experiences throughout their lives.
What is the structure of The Waves?
The Waves is structured through soliloquies delivered by six distinct characters. These internal monologues, which follow the characters across their lives, are interspersed with nine brief third-person interludes. This experimental format distinguishes the book as one of Virginia Woolf's most unique literary contributions.
How many characters deliver soliloquies in The Waves?
There are six characters who speak in soliloquies throughout The Waves: Bernard, Susan, Rhoda, Neville, Jinny, and Louis. While a seventh character named Percival is central to the work, he does not provide a soliloquy and remains a character whose voice is never heard directly.