The Wave () is a 2025 musical drama film directed by Sebastián Lelio, from a screenplay written by Lelio, Manuela Infante, Josefina Fernández and Paloma Salas. Starring Daniela López, Avril Aurora, Lola Bravo and Paulina Cortés, it is loosely inspired by 2018 Chilean feminist protests and strikes.
The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Premiere section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, on May 16, 2025.
Principal photography had wrapped in April 2024, after filming on location for nine weeks. Accompanying the announcement of the production wrap, it was reported that newcomers Daniela López, Avril Aurora, Lola Bravo and Paulina Cortés had joined the cast.
The film features seventeen national musicians, including Ana Tijoux, Camila Moreno, Javiera Parra, Evelyn Cornejo, Niña Tormenta, Chini.png and Natalia Contesse who collaborated to write the musical composition alongside the film's composer, Matthew Herbert.
The Wave had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Premiere section, on 16 May 2025.
It will compete for IFFI ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal at the 56th International Film Festival of India in November 2025.
Distributed by El Camino, it is scheduled to be released commercially on August 28, 2025, in Chilean theaters.
On September 6, 2025 The Wave made its United States premiere as Closing Night Selection at NVISON Latino Film & Music Festival in Miami.
In December 2025, Wolfe Video announced their acquisition of North American distribution rights to the film with a plans for a theatrical release in 2026.
Guy Lodge of Variety assessed that despite the film being "composed and choreographed with energetic aplomb", the two-hour-plus runtime "exposes the repetitiveness of its rhetoric and the sparseness of its drama".
