Overview
A gripping exploration of power and its consequences unfolds in a high school classroom.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Moderate
- disturbing
- tense
- foreboding
- classroom discussion
- political cinema night
What critics said
Critics were divided about the film's pedagogical directness and character construction, but broadly praised the convincing ensemble, especially Jürgen Vogel and Frederick Lau, and its tense treatment of authoritarian group dynamics.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Rainer Wenger's project-week lesson develops from a teaching exercise into The Wave's rituals, hierarchy, and coercive collective identity.
The students' self-rule project increasingly resembles fascist organization and Germany's past.
The students' experiment explicitly evokes fascism and national socialism in modern Germany.
Popular teacher Rainer Wenger's unorthodox leadership turns the classroom exercise into a movement that threatens to overpower him.
Films like The Wave, and why
The Stanford Prison Experiment
shared teen ensemble, classroom experiment, and escalating authoritarian group dynamics
The Lives of Others
shared political thriller tension, ideological manipulation, and youthful resistance to authoritarianism
Lord of the Flies
shared school setting, conformity themes, and disturbing social escalation among students
Movie Details
- Director
- Dennis Gansel
- Release Date
- 2008-03-13
- Runtime
- 107 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (3707)
Cast
- Jürgen Vogel
- Frederick Lau
- Max Riemelt
- Jennifer Ulrich
- Christiane Paul
- Elyas M'Barek
- Cristina do Rego
- Jacob Matschenz
- Maximilian Vollmar
- Tim Oliver Schultz
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Wave about?
- A popular German teacher’s classroom experiment in autocracy mutates into a frightening student movement that reenacts the authoritarianism it was meant to explain.
- What is The Wave like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Wave as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Wave violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Wave as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Wave?
- Critics were divided about the film's pedagogical directness and character construction, but broadly praised the convincing ensemble, especially Jürgen Vogel and Frederick Lau, and its tense treatment of authoritarian group dynamics.
- Which films are like The Wave?
- Films with a similar feel include The Stanford Prison Experiment, The Lives of Others, and Lord of the Flies.
- How long is The Wave?
- The Wave runs 107 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Wave?
- In United States, The Wave is available to rent or buy from Google Play Movies, YouTube.
