The first two episodes of this serial were broadcast on BBC4 on Saturday evening without much fanfare and little on IMDb. I was struck straightaway by two thoughts. This seems like an American-influenced narrative and as the image above suggests, we have several ingredients of a narrative reminiscent of American films and TV. Panic on the beach of a small seaside resort with the Mayor centre frame, aware of the possible consequences of some form of tragic event on the prosperity of the community. It took me a little while to confirm that one of the leads in the serial is played by Marie Dompnier who I enjoyed so much in the two seasons of Witnesses (Les témoins) in 2014 and 2017. Though La dernière vague has different writers, this opening episode has a scene that is similar in some ways to Witnesses Season 2. In the earlier narrative Ms Dompnier is a police detective who investigates an incident in which a bus full of passengers seemingly frozen to death is found on a rural road. In this new serial she is more directly involved as one of a group of surfers taking part in a local event when a mysterious cloud forms over the sea. The surfers literally disappear for several hours and then return seemingly having suffered no injury. Indeed, some of them seem to have had any medical issues ‘improved’ or ‘resolved’. But they have no memory of what actually happened to them.
At the end of episode 2 we are left with the strong suggestion that the cloud is merely the signifier for some non-human force, possibly a natural phenomenon or an alien consciousness? Is this horror or science fiction? So far this ‘force’ seems to be more beneficial than dangerous but this might be dependent on how humans respond. There are several family melodrama elements developing as well so perhaps there will be some kind of moral questioning of these relationships. And finally there is the ecology vs capitalism issue. In one sense it all looks familiar in genre terms. The seaside community comprises attractive people and the beach in the Landes south of Bordeaux in Nouvelle Aquitaine is inviting. it’s also good to see a lead character, Ben, who is a chemistry teacher. I’m looking forward to the next two 50 minute episodes – there are six in total.
The Observer‘s reviewer has already trashed the serial and the Telegraph has published a jokey review. This kind of genre mashup often seems to rile those critics who happily accept crime fiction. I wonder why?
The Case for Global Film 
Seems just like The Dome series. Ugh! Probably will go on and on and on and on…..
LikeLike
Do you mean Under the Dome, based on a Stephen King novel? I haven’t seen it but I did think about Stephen King when watching The Last Wave. This French serial is only 6 x 50 minutes or 5 hours total.
LikeLike
Thanks for reminding me of where I had seen Ms Dompnier before and, indeed, of her name. She was compelling in Witnesses. I would have thought Nouvelle Vague was more your style, Roy, but this is certainly watchable if perhaps not ‘bingeable‘. It was a bit like The Returned (Les Revenants?) without the same immediately compelling narrative. It was also very like ‘Heroes’ from the other side of the pond made with a bigger slice of family drama. As with The Returned I do not really expect it to reach a satisfying explanation of the mysterious events, but will be nice to see where it gets to on the way.
LikeLike