No Waves: relentless thriller for hot topics

No Waves: relentless thriller for hot topics



No wave: the word in all its forms

With No waves, his third feature film, director Teddy Lussi-Modeste tackles a challenging theme: national education, structured around a young idealistic professor played masterfully by François Civil who finds his best role here. The latter, trying to go beyond the traditional limits of teaching to truly connect with your studentsfinds himself caught in a whirlwind of consequences after being falsely accused of harassment by one of them.

Inspired by real events that affected the director himself, This film delves into the complexities of a teacher’s role in today’s social climate. The title of the film refers to hashtag launched on Twitter in 2018 by teachers who denounce the abandonment of their hierarchy in a context of increasingly present violence.

Contrary to the expectations raised by its trailer, which was severely criticized, the subject of the film is not the accusation itself, but rather the complexity of work dynamics. It highlights the word in all its forms: accusatory, liberating, restorative, but above all as a fundamental tool of education.

Echoing recent tragedies

The true skill of Teddy Lussi-Modeste and his co-writer Audrey Diwan (The event) lies in its ability to highlight the psychological and social mechanisms that are activated on both sides, for both the accused teacher and the student. The narrative gives voice to all perspectives, culminating in an incredibly powerful scene of liberation of the word, the true pivot around which the entire story revolves.

In the film, Julien, and by extension the director, engages in introspection about his role and actions. Instead of positioning yourself as the only victim, the professor questions his share of responsibility of a teacher.

No waves He also criticizes institutions that appear to have lost the capacity to listen and support, particularly national education and police services. Teddy Lussi-Modeste, through a refined staging, adopts the codes of the thriller, gradually locking the main character into a hopeless situation, amplified by the latent threat of the student’s older brother, echoing the tragedies of Samuel Paty and Dominique Bernard, both murdered in the course of their teaching duties.

Source: Cine Serie

You may also like