Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Waves:
The Iron Claw
The Iron Claw is a powerful reminder of the human spirit being both enduring and fragile. It’s a movie that redefines what a sports movie can be, leaving viewers emotionally spent and profoundly moved. This is, without a doubt, one of 2023’s greatest achievements in filmmaking, a confirmed *masterpiece* that will linger in your mind and heart long after the final bell rings.
Aftersun
Charlotte Wells’ debut movie Aftersun is a juggernaut. Few films demand the time and attention this A24 property does and also delivers on the promise of a deeply resonating ending that will surely endure the test of time and re-watchability. In many ways, Aftersun feels timeless – the rare use of technology or dated material is actually of 20 years past (around the timeframe for our lead character Sophie, played by the wonderful and peppy Frankie Corio, to reminisce the time she spent with her father), and the structural architecture and design of the Turkish resort they stay at is nearly absent. Every frame stays with people, not their surroundings.
Armageddon Time
In any profile you read or listen to with James Gray, the sincerity reigns true about his passions. As a craftsman that’s been working as a filmmaker since the 1990s, Gray is now a staple of the art world and a veteran of the profession. While his settings can range from his own personal stomping grounds to international terrain to even intergalactic expeditions, the clear and penetrating humanity that is on display with each outing grows heavier and heavier, so when it was announced that Armageddon Time would be a semi-autobiographical story about a critical point in Gray’s own childhood, it felt like both an inevitability and a slam dunk.
The Florida Project
The Florida Project isn’t just one of Sean Baker’s best films—it’s a modern indie masterpiece that has solidified itself as one of the defining movies of the 2010s. Released by A24 in 2017, it’s a stunningly poignant slice-of-life drama that immerses the audience in the sun-drenched but deeply flawed world of its characters. For me, this movie came at the perfect time, when I was just beginning to see film as more than entertainment and started engaging with it as an art form. It wasn’t just a gateway into Sean Baker’s career; it was a revelation that reshaped how I thought about storytelling on screen.
C’mon C’mon
With C’mon C’mon, Mike Mills continues his deeply personal exploration of familial relationships, following Beginners (about his father) and 20th Century Women (about his mother). This time, he turns inward, reflecting on his role as a father and the complexities of raising a child in an uncertain world. The result is a delicate, introspective film that is both heartfelt and deeply human, even if it doesn’t always hit the emotional highs of Mills’ previous work.
A Thousand and One
Sundance 2023’s Grand Jury Prize winner A Thousand and One has a gravitational pull at the center – Teyana Taylor, giving a stunning performance that competes with some of the year’s bests. A riveting drama that puts Director A.V. Rockwell on the map for years to come.
Earth Mama
Earth Mama is the debut movie from Savanah Leaf and stars Tia Nomore and Erika Alexander. It depicts a pregnant single mother with two children in foster care as she embraces her Bay Area community and fights to reclaim her family.
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Royal Tenenbaums not only stands as one of Wes Anderson’s best movies of his career, but also a defining work of the independent filmmaking scene in the early 2000s. It’s dripping with color and visual intensity, masking a story with deep themes of broken families.
Nebraska
In classic Alexander Payne fashion, the setup for Nebraska is equal parts funny, sad, and deeply personal. And the payoff is well worth the wait due to remarkably nuanced and layered performances from Bruce Dern and Will Forte as a complicated father-son duo.
Monster
Hirokazu Kore-eda juxtaposes his 2023 movie, Monster, against its own title. Naming your movie Monster instills an inherent sense of danger and hostility, and while Kore-eda’s latest film isn’t void of those emotions, it stills packs the same humanistic punch that has helped the writer/filmmaker gain such acclaim throughout the 21st century.
READ MORE: Waves (2019)
