Phuong Mai Nguyen’s debut feature film “In Waves,” an animated adaptation of AJ Dungo’s graphic memoir, is making its mark at Cannes. The Hollywood Reporter reports that the film becomes the first animated movie to open Cannes Critics’ Week. The production uses an English-language voice cast led by Will Sharpe and Stephanie Hsu, according to The Hollywood Reporter, while other reviews describe the story as centered on first love, loss, and the emotional pull of surfing. Variety and IndieWire both highlight that the film’s central tragedy follows a conventional tearjerker structure, though their assessments differ in emphasis: Variety calls the adaptation elegantly animated and philosophically earnest, while IndieWire says the beautiful visuals cannot fully overcome the story’s familiarity and heaviness. Across sources, the film is framed as a “doomed love story” that aims for an affecting response from viewers, drawing from real-life inspiration related to young people facing life-changing hardship. Together, the reviews depict “In Waves” as a visually striking, character-focused adaptation that pairs romantic stakes with grief, presented as a notable event for Cannes due to its animation milestone.