Caught By A Wave (2021) – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)

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Caught By A Wave is a simple romance with enough drama to keep it from getting dull, but never enough to make you take situations mentioned too serious.

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Film Summary

Almost 3 years ago, Sara found her dreams of going to the Olympics, being a competitive 49er Dinghy racer dashed by a muscle dystrophy disease. Yet, with still loving the water, a gift from her father, recently she tried to get back into racing, thinking she was getting better. However, it seems trying to do what she once loved has only made things worse.

Luckily though, the silver lining of this dark cloud is meeting a multi-national champion named Lorenzo, who takes an interest in her. But with the possibility of her ending up in a wheelchair promised, so comes the question if these two, barely adults, are ready for all it would mean to be more than a summer romance? Especially considering the trajectory both are on.

Things To Note | Question(s) Left Unanswered

• Reason(s) for Film Rating: Smoking, drinking, potential drug use
• Jump Scares/ Laughs/ Tear-Jerking Moments: When Sara is smiling at Lorenzo, you may shed happy tears.

Review

Highlights

Sara and Lorenzo

It is Lorenzo’s effort and the way Sara smiles when Lorenzo is moments away from kissing her, which does it for me. That is, after he has a moment to deal with Sara being sickly, reassuring her that he finds her beautiful no matter what accommodation she needs. Though what may really take the cake is, despite knowing her diagnosis, I don’t think Lorenzo even treats Sara as if she isn’t capable of doing as much as he is. Rather, he treats her as if nothing is wrong, which does get him in trouble, but definitely seems appreciated in the long run.

On The Fence

Iffy Supporting Cast

In many ways, you could say the supporting cast is just filled with parents, or parental figures, for the sake of making this a young love story. This isn’t to downplay Sara’s parents having a rocky relationship, or Lorenzo’s dad still reeling from his mother’s death, and that affecting him and Lorenzo. It’s just, Caught By A Wave clearly doesn’t want to dwell on the parents, or even Sara’s best friend, because it doesn’t want to bog you down with details. It wants to present to you this cute romance, which has a dash of drama but never too much to keep this from feeling light.

It Won’t Get You Into Boat Racing

Despite a mutual love of sailing, it isn’t romanticized much. You see Lorenzo try to do that during one of his many dates with Sara, but it doesn’t translate to the viewer. Also, even when the film attempts to bolster Sara’s dad, who got her into sailing, or a scene where we see her enjoying the speed and feeling of making waves with her finger, it doesn’t make you want to pick up the sport. Simply put, sailing is what brings them joy on paper, but it’s never pushed to the point for you to fully understand and embrace it.

The Ending Will Give You Pause

The ending contains an epilogue with a time jump of a couple of months, and what you see will leave you rewinding to see if you missed something. Mainly because the ending hints at something you may not like.

Overall

Rating: Mixed (Divisive)

As long as you’re someone who likes a cute little romance featuring two late-teen/ young adults, you’ll like Caught By A Wave. Granted, it has some familiar tropes, like the girl who is ill and the boy who loves her through it all, but with the film not pushing Sara’s disease, it avoids being as tragic as it could be. Thus leaving you with a mostly to-the-point romance, with a few forgettable subplots and an ending that is one of the main reasons we find Caught By A Wave divisive.

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