A violent ex-con finds salvation on a surfboard. Korean indie cinema doesn't miss.
Second-generation migrant worker, Soo is released after receiving probation and community service sentence for his use of violence. Along with his friend Pil-sung, he ends up working as brokers for illegal migrant workers. While fulfilling his community service duty, he meets surfers. Soo falls in love with surfing as the surfers Ddong-ggo and Hae-na teach him how to surf.
Cinematography
Jeju's waves shot with patient, meditative reverence.
Acting
Kwak Min-kyu's silent physicality speaks volumes.
Direction
Choi Chang-hwan trusts audiences to sit with discomfort.
Director
Choi Chang-hwan
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot on actual Jeju beaches with non-professional surfers; Kwak Min-kyu learned to surf for the role over six months.
Released same year as Parasite, Wave represents opposite pole of Korean cinema: quiet, working-class poetry vs. Bong's satirical spectacle. Both obsess over ladders nobody can climb.
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