WAVES: Angelina Jolie (2025) – Grief, Grace, and Survival in the Wake of the Storm

“When the ocean takes your world, what remains is the strength to begin anew.” 

WAVES (2025) is a stirring emotional odyssey, starring Angelina Jolie as a woman confronting grief, trauma, and the forces of nature—both literal and psychological. Directed by Chloé Zhao, the film blends lyrical cinematography with a raw, soul-baring performance to explore what it means to lose everything, and still find the strength to begin again.

Jolie plays Dr. Celeste Harper, a marine biologist who loses her husband and daughter in a tragic boating accident during a hurricane off the Pacific coast. Stranded on a remote island after her rescue mission fails, Celeste is left with nothing but a damaged satellite radio, a notebook full of her daughter’s drawings, and the roaring crash of waves as her only companion.

As weeks pass, Celeste begins documenting her descent into grief and isolation. But as the tides turn, she discovers signs she may not be alone on the island. Her mind flickers between hallucination and reality, while flashbacks reveal a broken marriage, personal guilt, and unresolved love.

WAVES is not just a survival drama—it is a spiritual meditation. Angelina Jolie’s performance is haunting and graceful, portraying a woman stripped of everything but memory and instinct. Zhao’s direction emphasizes silence, wind, and oceanic rhythm, turning the natural world into a mirror of Celeste’s turbulent soul.

With themes of motherhood, forgiveness, and rebirth, WAVES is a film that lingers like a tide that never fully recedes. It reminds us that healing doesn't come in calm waters—but in surviving the storm.