Short answer
Start with Moonlight (2016) for another A24 coming of age story in South Florida, Krisha (2015) for Shults’s own first family drama, and Luce (2019) for Kelvin Harrison Jr. as a pressured high achiever the same year.
Same director
- Krisha (2015). Shults’s first feature: a family Thanksgiving coming apart around his aunt Krisha Fairchild.
- It Comes at Night (2017). His second, a horror film about two families in isolation, with Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Same actors
- Luce (2019). Kelvin Harrison Jr. as a star student whose parents and teacher see him very differently.
- Bones and All (2022). Taylor Russell leads a road movie about young love on the edge.
- Manchester by the Sea (2016). Lucas Hedges in a film about grief inside a family.
- Mid90s (2018). Alexa Demie in Jonah Hill’s A24 film about teenagers and growing up too fast.
- Lady Bird (2017). Lucas Hedges again, in Greta Gerwig’s film about a senior year and a parent who expects more.
Same feeling
- Moonlight (2016). Barry Jenkins’s Miami coming of age story, also from A24.
- The Florida Project (2017). Sean Baker’s A24 film about a summer on the edge near Orlando, in the same saturated Florida color.
- Eighth Grade (2018). Bo Burnham’s A24 film about a teenager online and a loving, awkward parent.
Already seen these? The Waves soundtrack is its own way back into the film, and the cast page lists more work by each actor.
Questions people ask
What movie is most like Waves?
Moonlight shares the South Florida setting, the A24 label and a young Black lead under pressure. For the same filmmaker’s touch, Krisha is the closest.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. Streaming catalogs and listings change; check the service before you pay.