Synopsis
"The Last Wave" (1977) is an Australian supernatural thriller you can watch online on iFILM. Director Peter Weir — later known for "Witness" and "The Truman Show" — follows Sydney lawyer David Burton (Richard Chamberlain), who takes on the defense of Aboriginal men charged with killing one of their own. What starts as a legal case turns into something he has no framework to understand.
Burton begins seeing things. Freak storms pummel Sydney for weeks. One of his clients, Chris (David Gulpilil), guards secrets about a ritual world that was never meant for an outsider's eyes. The deeper Burton digs, the clearer it becomes that his visions carry the weight of thousands of years. Weir refuses to explain — the audience is left with the same slow dread as the man on screen.
The film arrived the same year as "Star Wars" and found a very different audience. Weir's deliberate pacing, Aboriginal cosmology and Charles Wain's score produce something closer to a waking dream than a thriller. Stream "The Last Wave" (1977) online on iFILM.
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