Overview
A gripping tale of prophecy and mystery unfolds as a lawyer delves into the unknown.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- eerie
- foreboding
- paranoid
- rainy night
- arthouse horror viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Peter Weir’s atmospheric Australian New Wave mystery-horror as visually striking, intellectually provocative, and unusually ambitious, despite its deliberate ambiguity.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Chris Lee and the hidden society redirect David Burton’s investigation toward Aboriginal prophecy and worldviews.
Unseasonal rain, violent storms, and the threatened drowning of the continent drive the film’s mounting dread.
David’s dreams and nightmares increasingly anticipate or illuminate the prophecy he is trying to understand.
Sydney’s legal and domestic spaces become charged with hidden societies, rain-soaked streets, and ominous ritual imagery.
Films like The Last Wave, and why
Picnic at Hanging Rock
shared atmospheric supernatural mystery, cultural conflict, and ominous ecological catastrophe
Wake in Fright
shared Australian New Wave sensibility, dreamlike ambiguity, and escalating existential dread
The Shining
shared prophetic visions, apocalyptic anxiety, and psychologically destabilizing horror
The New World
shared climate catastrophe, indigenous cultural perspectives, and unsettling supernatural atmosphere
Movie Details
- Director
- Peter Weir
- Release Date
- 1977-12-15
- Runtime
- 106 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (218)
Cast
- Richard Chamberlain
- Olivia Hamnett
- David Gulpilil
- Frederick Parslow
- Vivean Gray
- Athol Compton
- Peter Carroll
- Walter Amagula
- Michael Duffield
- Nandjiwarra Amagula
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, HBO Max
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Last Wave about?
- A Sydney lawyer’s attempt to defend Aboriginal defendants becomes a hallucinatory descent into prophecy, cultural secrecy, and continent-scale doom.
- What is The Last Wave like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Last Wave as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Last Wave violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Last Wave as mild.
- What did critics think of The Last Wave?
- Critics broadly regard Peter Weir’s atmospheric Australian New Wave mystery-horror as visually striking, intellectually provocative, and unusually ambitious, despite its deliberate ambiguity.
- Which films are like The Last Wave?
- Films with a similar feel include Picnic at Hanging Rock, Wake in Fright, The Shining, and The New World.
- How long is The Last Wave?
- The Last Wave runs 106 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Last Wave?
- In United States, The Last Wave streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, HBO Max.
