Cannes 2025: Magnificent Chilean Musical 'The Wave' is Empowering

The Cannes Film Festival is once again featuring a never-seen-before musical that will shock and surprise and dazzle audiences. Last year, Jacques Audiard's ambitious (and eventually controversial) musical Emilia Perez premiered at Cannes. This year, Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio's new film The Wave premiered at Cannes – though not in the Main Competition. The Wave (originally called La Ola in Spanish) is another massively ambitious, audacious, vivid modern musical daring to sing & dance to songs about uncomfortable topics and challenging conversations. Lelio's The Wave is inspired by the 2018 feminist protests at major universities in Chile that year, which were part of the global #MeToo movement (just before the pandemic arrived). It's a story about one young woman named Julia, though it's also a story about all women and how misogyny still rules in this patriarchal society. It's an empowering movie about women standing up, fighting back, and never giving up until there is change. A magnificent creation! This shook me up & left me in awe. La Ola is the latest feature directed by successful Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio – best known as the director of the acclaimed films Gloria (and its remake Gloria Bell), A Fantastic Woman, Disobedience, […]

May 26, 2025 - 21:40

Cannes 2025: Magnificent Chilean Musical 'The Wave' is Empowering

The Cannes Film Festival is once again featuring a never-seen-before musical that will shock and surprise and dazzle audiences. Last year, Jacques Audiard's ambitious (and eventually controversial) musical Emilia Perez premiered at Cannes. This year, Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio's new film The Wave premiered at Cannes – though not in the Main Competition. The Wave (originally called La Ola in Spanish) is another massively ambitious, audacious, vivid modern musical daring to sing & dance to songs about uncomfortable topics and challenging conversations. Lelio's The Wave is inspired by the 2018 feminist protests at major universities in Chile that year, which were part of the global #MeToo movement (just before the pandemic arrived). It's a story about one young woman named Julia, though it's also a story about all women and how misogyny still rules in this patriarchal society. It's an empowering movie about women standing up, fighting back, and never giving up until there is change. A magnificent creation! This shook me up & left me in awe. // Continue Reading ›