THE WAVE
Special Features: Special Presentation
[LA OLA]
With his Cannes-premiered THE WAVE, Academy Award® winner Sebastián Lelio (A FANTASTIC WOMAN, GLORIA) returns to Spanish-language cinema, along with regular collaborator Pablo Larraín, to stage a bold, emotionally charged feminist musical inspired by the 2018 student protests that swept Chilean universities in the wake of the global of the #MeToo movement. In a breakout performance, Daniela López stars as Julia, an ambitious music student grappling with the aftermath of a sexual assault. Somewhat reluctantly, she joins the organizing efforts, but as her own story of survival emerges and she becomes the unwitting center of the movement, she begins to question her role in the resistance. Blending Broadway-scale choreography, surrealist flourishes and a raw political energy, THE WAVE takes a self-aware approach to exploring its themes of misogyny, consent, class and solidarity with fearless ambition — even pausing mid-song to confront Lelio’s own position as a male director. Lelio and his all-woman writing team craft a kaleidoscopic portrait of modern feminist resistance that is both visually dazzling and thematically provocative. Not only a celebration of protest but also a call to action, THE WAVE is an unforgettable cinematic tribute to those who stand, sing and fight for change. –Abbie Algar
Official Selection, 2025 Cannes Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Sebastián Lelio; SCR Josefina Fernández, Manuela Infante, Paloma Salas; PROD Rocío Jadue, Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín. Chile/U.S., 2025, color, 129 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 129 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, September 19, 2025
Genre: Musical
