--- title: "The Last Wave" year: 1977 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-last-wave" fi1m_id: "the-last-wave" imdb_id: "tt0076299" tmdb_id: 72277 wikidata_id: "Q1218841" fi1m_score: 77 critics_score: 71 critics_reviews: 4 published: "2026-09-26T00:14:48.411642+00:00" updated: "2026-09-26T00:14:48.933304+00:00" region: "AR" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Last Wave (1977) Directed by Peter Weir · 1h 46m · Drama, Mystery, Horror ## Identity The Last Wave - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-last-wave - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** the-last-wave - **IMDb ID:** tt0076299 - **TMDB ID:** 72277 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1218841 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076299/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/72277, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1218841 **Fi1m score: 77** · Critics 71 (early) from 4 reviews *In a sentence:* Hail from a blue sky, black rain on the harbour, and a tax lawyer who keeps dreaming about his client > Peter Weir follows *Picnic at Hanging Rock* with a ghost story told through the weather, and it is as unnerving as anything Australian cinema has made. Richard Chamberlain is the weak point; David Gulpilil and the rain are the strong ones. ## Synopsis Sydney, now, and the weather has gone wrong. Hail falls from a clear sky onto a school in the desert; in the city it rains for days and the rain comes down black. David Burton (Richard Chamberlain), a tax lawyer with a wife, Annie (Olivia Hamnett), and two daughters, is asked to defend a group of Aboriginal men charged over the death of Billy Corman (Athol Compton). Before he has met his clients, David dreams of one of them, Chris Lee (David Gulpilil), standing in his hallway holding out a stone. An anthropologist, Dr Whitburn (Vivean Gray), tells him there are no tribal people left in Sydney. David wants to win the case; he also wants to know why his bath keeps overflowing in his sleep. ## Review Peter Weir follows [*Picnic at Hanging Rock*](https://film.one/film/picnic-at-hanging-rock) (1975) with another film about white Australians standing in front of something older than them and failing to see it. This time the setting is Sydney rather than the bush, the year is now, and the thing they cannot see is arriving as weather. David Burton (Richard Chamberlain), a tax lawyer with a good house and a fair-haired family, is asked to defend a group of Aboriginal men over the death of Billy Corman (Athol Compton). Before he has met any of them he dreams of one, Chris Lee (David Gulpilil), standing in his hallway at night holding out a stone. It is a good film with a hole in the middle where its lead should be, and we would still send you to it. The weather does most of the work. The first scene is a schoolyard in the desert, a teacher, a clear sky and then hailstones the size of fists coming through a corrugated roof while the children scream. Then Sydney, and rain that does not stop, and radio announcers being cheerful about it. Russell Boyd shoots the city through wet glass in the colours of mud and weak tea, keeps the interiors dim and puts water on every surface. He does not change the lens or tilt the camera when David starts dreaming. A dream looks like a Tuesday, which is why a bath overflowing down a staircase made us glance at our own ceiling. Max Lemon cuts the dreams into the waking film without a dissolve or a sound cue to warn us, so we are often two or three shots into one before we realise where we are. Charles Wain’s score is used sparingly: a low drone that might be an instrument or might be the wind, and long stretches of nothing but rain on a roof. Annie Bleakley keeps David in suits that always look slightly damp and Chris in a cheap city jacket that sits on him like a disguise, which is the point. Gulpilil is the reason to watch. Chris says very little, answers questions with questions and looks at David exactly the way David looks at him, and the film tilts towards him whenever he is on screen. Nandjiwarra Amagula, as the elder Charlie, comes to dinner at the Burtons’ house and barely speaks, and the whole dinner party reorganises itself around his end of the table. Vivean Gray gives Dr Whitburn the brisk certainty of the sensible world, explaining that there can be no tribal killing because there are no tribes here, and the film is plainly not on her side. Chamberlain is the problem, and it is not a small one. He is handsome and decent and he plays bewilderment as a single expression that he holds for 106 minutes. The part needs a man coming apart; he gives us a man mildly inconvenienced. Olivia Hamnett gets the better of their scenes as Annie, the wife who notices her husband has stopped listening before he does. Frederick Parslow, as David’s stepfather the Reverend, has one strong scene, a conversation about what David dreamed as a boy that turns into a sermon nobody asked for. Here is what it did to us. The hail on the schoolhouse roof, with that blue sky sitting over it, unsettled us and the film never gave us leave to stop being unsettled. Twice we were frightened without being able to say by what, once by a man in a doorway and once by water in a parked car, and both times there was nothing on screen a censor could point to. That is a rarer trick than it sounds, and Weir does it with a light meter and a hose. The script, by Weir, Tony Morphett and Petru Popescu, is less sure of itself than the images. Around the hour mark it starts telling us what we have already been shown, and the courtroom scenes are there to move the plot rather than because anyone was interested in the law. There is also the older difficulty: the film makes Aboriginal belief a mystery for a white lawyer’s benefit, and while Weir knows this and lets Gulpilil and Amagula keep their own counsel, the story still belongs to the man in the suit. It ends on a single image we will not describe. It is worth 106 minutes to arrive at it, with the lights off and, if you can arrange it, rain on the window. It carries a 15. *Fi1m score 77, published 26 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is The Last Wave worth watching?** *The Last Wave* is worth watching, and we scored it 77. Peter Weir tells a ghost story through hail from a blue sky, black rain and an overflowing bath, and David Gulpilil is the quiet centre of it as the client a Sydney lawyer keeps dreaming about. Richard Chamberlain is a flat lead and the script over-explains after the hour, so it suits patient viewers who like dread without answers. **How long is The Last Wave, and what is it rated?** *The Last Wave* runs 1h 46m. It is a drama and mystery film. **Where can I watch The Last Wave in Argentina?** *The Last Wave* is not on any streaming or rental service in Argentina at the moment. It is available in 4 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is The Last Wave, and is it suitable for children?** *The Last Wave* carries a UK 15 and frightens through atmosphere rather than gore. Hail smashes through a school roof onto screaming children, a man stands in a doorway at night and water gathers where it should not; there is nothing a censor could point to, but we were unsettled from the first scene to the last. It is not for young children, though older teenagers who can sit with slow dread will be fine. **What should I watch after The Last Wave?** After *The Last Wave*, try [*Picnic at Hanging Rock*](https://film.one/film/picnic-at-hanging-rock) (1975, Fi1m 88): Weir’s previous film: schoolgirls, a rock, and the same refusal to explain. Then [*Walkabout*](https://film.one/film/walkabout) (1971, Fi1m 85): Gulpilil’s first film, two lost children and the desert doing the talking; and [*Don't Look Now*](https://film.one/film/dont-look-now) (1973, Fi1m 90): Water, premonition and a man who will not believe what he keeps seeing. ### Reviews we read (4) - **Radio Times**, David Parkinson (4/5): The critic calls it a mesmerising supernatural drama, though Richard Chamberlain is out of his depth. They praise the indigenous cast and single out the spectacular final shot, while noting it was borrowed from another film. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-g3xuy7/the-last-wave/) - **The Guardian**, Guardian staff reporter (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the film melancholic and still resonant in its exploration of Australia’s unsettled history. David Gulpilil’s performance is singled out as exceptional. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/sep/23/the-last-wave-peter-weir-film-review-australia-colonial-violence-david-gulpilil-ntwnfb) - **The New York Times** (64/100, inferred): The page appears to be a review, but its critical verdict is unavailable in the accessible text. No specific praise or complaint can be verified. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/19/archives/film-last-wave-storm-of-occultismmysticism-down-under.html) - **Time Out**, GA (64/100, inferred): The available description frames the film as Weir revisiting the clash between supposedly civilised and supposedly less rational societies. It singles out Richard Chamberlain’s white liberal character, but the accessible text does not reveal the critic’s overall verdict or a specific point of praise or complaint. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-last-wave) ## Details - **Director:** Peter Weir - **Director:** Peter Weir - **Screenplay:** Peter Weir, Petru Popescu, Tony Morphett - **Cinematography:** Russell Boyd - **Editor:** Max Lemon - **Music:** Charles Wain, Groove Myers - **Costume design:** Annie Bleakley - **Producer:** Hal McElroy, Jim McElroy - **Cast:** Richard Chamberlain as David Burton; Olivia Hamnett as Annie Burton; David Gulpilil as Chris Lee; Frederick Parslow as Rev. Burton; Vivean Gray as Dr. Whitburn; Athol Compton as Billy Corman; Peter Carroll as Michael Zeadler; Walter Amagula as Gerry Lee - **Runtime:** 1h 46m - **First release (France):** 5 November 1977 - **Genres:** Drama, Mystery, Horror - **Budget:** $825,000 - **Box office:** $2 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKvuUDBHipE ## Where to watch in Argentina Not streaming, renting or buying in Argentina at the last check. Also available in: AU, CA, NZ, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Sitges Film Festival Best Actor award 1982: Sitges Film Festival Best Actor award (won) - AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role 1978: AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (nominated) - AACTA Award for Best Direction 1978: AACTA Award for Best Direction (nominated) - AACTA Award for Best Editing 1978: AACTA Award for Best Editing (nominated) - AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score 1978: AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score (nominated) - AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay 1978: AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay (nominated) - AACTA Award for Best Sound 1978: AACTA Award for Best Sound (won) ## If you liked this - *Picnic at Hanging Rock* (1975), Fi1m 88: Weir’s previous film: schoolgirls, a rock, and the same refusal to explain. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/picnic-at-hanging-rock.md) - *Walkabout* (1971), Fi1m 85: Gulpilil’s first film, two lost children and the desert doing the talking. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/walkabout.md) - *Don't Look Now* (1973), Fi1m 90: Water, premonition and a man who will not believe what he keeps seeing. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/dont-look-now.md) - *Ten Canoes* (2006): The same country told from the other side of the table, with jokes. - *Take Shelter* (2011), Fi1m 83: A family man dreams of storms and nobody in Ohio believes him either. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/take-shelter.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-last-wave