The Wave

When idealistic teacher Rainer Wenger decides to teach his teenage students about the intricacies of totalitarian control with a practical lesson, he fails to realise how well-received his study plan will be. His rebellious (if suspiciously glamorous) class embrace The Wave’s uniformity and discipline, but soon the experiment spirals out of control as they battle non-believers, deface the city with their movement’s logo and obsess over their seemingly perfect new way of life.

Inspired by historical events, The Wave feels immensely real and offers a reminder that any society retains the power to switch individual behaviour to extreme levels. Director Dennis Gansel also succeeds in making such events feel very easy to be sucked into; the results are obviously repulsive but the journey is deceptively seductive.

Think a teen-centred version of the similarly awesome Das Experiment. Think Skins with themes of political philosophy, group psychology and anarchy. Think, “I need to see this.”