Film Review: The Wave

As far as history/politics films go, I'm not exactly the most interested person in the world unless there's a lot of action (even though I love studying history and politics). But this film is the exception to my rule. The Wave, or its German name Die Welle, is, you've guessed it, a German film, based on a true story on an experiment concerning how dictatorships come to be by creating one in a classroom. You're probably thinking, that sounds incredibly boring, but due to the fast moving plot it really isn't.


The actual experiment happened in 1967 in California, but the movie is set in modern day Germany and follows a group of kids who have decided to take the autocracy class but are bored with learning about Hitler and The Third Reich. Their teacher, Rainer, experiments with the idea of creating a dictatorship by making the kids feel like they are part of an elitist group, by implementing stricter rules (calling him Herr Wenger instead of by his first name, wearing uniforms etc.) but the experiment spirals out of control within just a few days. Really worth watching, quite a good soundtrack too, but be prepared for the onslaught of emotions in such a short space of time.

Yas xx