If you loved
Waves
Trey Edward Shults · Film · 2019
What hooked you in Waves was the way it captures the devastating ripple effects of family secrets, trauma, and the crushing weight of expectation.
Books on the same thread
Thirteen Reasons Why
Jay Asher · Book · 2017
Shares a thread with Waves: Mental Health.
Like Waves, this story explores the harrowing aftermath of a tragic loss, forcing you to confront how hidden histories and personal choices ripple out to destroy everyone left behind.
We Were Liars
E. Lockhart · Book · 2021
Shares a thread with Waves: Family Drama.
This exploration of a privileged family fractured by a dark secret echoes the visceral intensity of Waves, highlighting how buried trauma inevitably shatters the lives of those closest to it.
Unwind
Neal Shusterman · Book · 2009
Explores: Body Autonomy, Euthanasia, Bioethics.
While the setting shifts to the dystopian, this journey captures the same desperate struggle for agency and survival under suffocating societal pressures that defined the characters in Waves.
It Ends with Us
Colleen Hoover · Book · 2016
Explores: Domestic Violence, Cycle of Abuse, Trauma.
This narrative mirrors the emotional turbulence found in Waves by examining the painful cycle of abuse and the difficult, often messy path toward finding forgiveness and personal reclamation.
Series on the same thread
Euphoria
Sam Levinson · Series · 2019
Shares 3 threads with Waves: Mental Health, Teen Drama, Coming-of-Age.
This series mirrors the raw, unfiltered portrait of teenage angst and identity crisis depicted in Waves, providing a gritty look at how trauma shapes the lives of young people.
13 Reasons Why
Brian Yorkey · Series · 2017
Shares 2 threads with Waves: Mental Health, Teen Drama.
Much like the tragic trajectory of the son in Waves, this show dissects the complex web of guilt and silence that follows a life-altering tragedy within a community.
When They See Us
Ava DuVernay · Series · 2019
Explores: Racial injustice, Wrongful conviction, Systemic racism.
This drama captures the same suffocating sense of injustice and systemic pressure that drives the conflict in Waves, focusing on how external forces can irrevocably alter a young life.
Wayne
Shawn Simmons · Series · 2019
Explores: Outsiders, Loyalty, Dysfunctional Family.
This gritty road trip reflects the restless, desperate energy of the protagonists in Waves, following outsiders as they navigate a harsh world defined by loyalty and deep-seated family dysfunction.
Podcasts on the same thread
Nice White Parents
Serial Productions & The New York Times · Podcast · 2022
Explores: systemic inequality, educational reform, privilege and power.
Just as Waves examines the impact of parental pressure, this investigative series reveals how the decisions of adults create systemic barriers that profoundly affect the futures of young people.
Couple Things with Shawn and Andrew
Shawn Johnson + Andrew East · Podcast · 2026
Explores: vulnerability, modern partnership, public persona.
If you appreciated the focus on the vulnerable, complex dynamics of a modern family in Waves, these intimate conversations offer a similar look at the reality behind curated personas.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Waves based on a true story?
The description provided for Waves does not state that the film is based on a true story. It is presented as a narrative focusing on a controlling father and the strain placed on his children following a career-ending sports injury and an unexpected tragedy.
What is the primary conflict in Waves?
The primary conflict in Waves involves a father whose attempts to ensure his children succeed in high school backfire. This pressure leads to severe strain on familial bonds after the son suffers a career-ending sports injury and the family faces an unexpected tragedy.
Does the father in Waves succeed in his goals for his children?
No, the father in Waves does not succeed in his goals. His controlling attempts to ensure his two children thrive in high school backfire, ultimately placing his family under severe strain following his son's sports injury and a subsequent unexpected tragedy.
How does the sports injury impact the plot of Waves?
The career-ending sports injury in Waves serves as a catalyst for the father's backfiring attempts at control. This event, combined with an unexpected tragedy, creates the core tension that places the familial bonds of the two children and their father under severe strain.