Are there parallel dimensions where we can have different endings to our life story? Between Waves does an excellent job of blending a love story with good science fiction.
Plot
Between Waves is the directional debut of Virginia Abramovich, who also wrote the story with Katherine Andrews. The film is a science fiction metaphysical love drama that stars Fiona Graham, Luke Robinson, Miquel Damiao, Sebastian Deery, and Stacey Bernstein. We are pulled into the story from the very first scene with Jamie (Fiona Graham) and her husband Isaac (Luke Robinson) taking a leisurely bath together.
We soon learn that Isaac is missing and presumed dead. Detective Roberts (Edwige Jean-Pierre) is handling the case. Jamie just about has the strength to get through her day as a professional photographer. She is grieving the loss of her husband, and she keeps seeing him everywhere she turns. One day, she is actually able to catch up with Isaac. He tells her that his scientific work on parallel dimensions is a success and that he is living in one of those dimensions. He wants her to go on the trip that they had planned before his disappearance.
Is Jamie hallucinating? Is she seeing ghosts? What we do know is that Jamie is pregnant with Isaac’s baby and that his family wants no part of her. We, the audience, must also wonder if Jamie was responsible for Isaac’s death. The detective is also suspicious in the beginning. After Jamie finds Isaac’s map and notebook with all his scientific calculations, she takes off to the island of Sao Miguel. Her boss, Marc (Sebastian Deery) is in love with Jamie, but she is unable to think of anything except finding Isaac.
As she visits each destination that Isaac has marked on the map, she catches glimpses of herself with a little girl. Is this the child that she is carrying, and planning to abort? When Isaac’s business partner Renata (Stacey Bernstein) comes to the island to get the notebook, she gives Jamie some advice. Jamie must leave a mark in order to distinguish her dimension from the alternate dimensions.
Conclusion
Anyone who has ever lost a loved one, and if they are honest with themselves, has seen the spirit of that loved one. What is death but a crossing over from one dimension to another. I have been seeing the dead since I was a toddler, and although I believe in a heaven, I often question what that heaven entails. Maybe heaven is an alternate dimension where we get to do things over again, with better results?
Jamie’s grief is palpable. We grieve with her as she tries to stay anchored in this dimension while trying to find the man she loves. We are given a mystery to solve. Is Isaac really dead? Will Jamie get over her fear of water (which has to do with her mother’s suicide) and join Isaac in his dimension? Or will she stay put and live in this dimension.
This question can only be answered when you watch Between Waves, which offers up some of the most beautiful landscapes, which only adds to Jamie’s longing.
