We Are the Wave

Synopsis

The series takes place in the fictitious German city of Meppersfeld. It tells the story of a group of teenagers who decide to fight together against injustice and social problems.

Lea, a high school student from a wealthy family, is bored and frustrated by her privileged life. She doubts her parents' way of life, who consider themselves to be cosmopolitan and environmentally aware. Lea feels that she wants to do more than them in order to create a better world. When Tristan, a new classmate, comes to Meppersfeld and quickly makes friends with the outsiders Zazie, Rahim and Hagen, Lea's interest is aroused.

Tristan uses the personal circumstances of the very different teenagers in order to inspire them for a common fight against grievances and injustices. Rahim and his family, for example, are regularly attacked racially. In addition, his family is threatened with the loss of their apartment because an investor wants to renovate the building into expensive luxury apartments. Hagen's parents who are organic farmers lost their economic livelihood after waste sludge from a local paper mill contaminated their fields. Zazie is bullied by classmates and feels oppressed by sexist gender stereotypes she doesn't match. After a short hesitation, Lea also joins the group, which meets in the afternoon on an abandoned factory site to plan the next steps together.

Driven by Tristan, the actions of the group, which is soon to be called "The Wave", are becoming increasingly radical and risky. What begins as an idealistic and playful revolt against the establishment, soon gets a threatening momentum. Central is the conflict between Lea, who believes in peaceful forms of protest and resistance, and Tristan, who considers Lea's optimism naive and is vehemently opposed to opening the group to other members.

As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Tristan has personal motives for his radicalism and is planning a terrorist action against a major gun manufacturer (his mother was killed in an aid mission in Africa by soldiers who came into possession of German weapons through illegal arms exports). In the showdown, Lea can prevent Tristan's attack in the last moment. With a media-effective action, Lea manages to inflict great economic damage on the weapons manufacturer, who has violated numerous legal requirements.

Cast and characters

Main

Ludwig Simon as Tristan Broch, the new boy at school with a troubled past, leader of The Wave and Lea's love interest

Luise Befort as Lea Herst, a wealthy girl who is fed up of her life, member of The Wave and Tristan's love interest

Michelle Barthel as Zazie Elsner, a student who is constantly bullied, member of The Wave, Hagen's love interest, has a crush on Tristan and was once bullied by Lea

Daniel Friedl as Hagen Lemmart, an antisocial boy, member of the Wave and has a crush on Zazie

Mohamed Issa as Rahim Hadad, an Arab who is bullied because of his race; member of The Wave, and Paula's love interest

Recurring

Milena Tscharntke as Sophie, Lea's best friend

Leon Seidel as Rahim's bully

Bela Lenz as Rahim's bully

Robert Schupp

Stephan Grossmann

Kristin Hunold as Kim, Zazie's bully

Sarah Mahita as Paula, Rahim's love interest

Luis Pintsch

Bianca Hein as Rike Herst, Lea's mother

Christian Erdmann as Andreas Herst, Lea's father

Jascha Baum as Luis

Nicole Johannhanwahr as Hagen's mother

Stefan Lampadius as Teacher Fleisser

Livia Matthes as Nikki, Tristan's old friend

Daniel Faust as drug dealer

Leander Paul Gerdes

Manuel Klein as Giese

Production

On April 18, 2018, Netflix announced the series as part of its event See What's Next in Rome, which at that time still bore the working title The Wave. The shooting of the first season lasted from 11 February 2019 to 6 May 2019, and took place in several cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, including Cologne, Hürth, Leverkusen, Düren, Euskirchen, Neuss, Wuppertal, Solingen, Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf & Hassel, Remagen and Bonn.

The series is produced by Rat Pack Filmproduktion in collaboration with Sony Pictures Film und Fernseh Produktion. The scripts are by Ipek Zübert, Kai Hafemeister and Thorsten Wettcke under the head-authorship of Jan Berger. The series is directed by Anca Miruna Lăzărescu and Mark Monheim. Executive Producer is Dennis Gansel.