AJ Dungo’s In Waves arrives at Netflix at an interesting moment for the streamer, where graphic novels are increasingly being treated not simply as source material, but as visual blueprints for films that can occupy a space between literary adaptation and distinctive animation. Netflix has already built a sizeable comic-book ecosystem, from The Sandman and The Umbrella Academy to Heartstopper, while In Waves takes that appetite somewhere more intimate. 

What makes this one particularly intriguing is that the source material is not a conventional superhero property. It is a deeply personal memoir about love, surfing, illness, and grief.

Based on Dungo’s best-selling graphic novel, In Waves is scheduled to receive a theatrical release in select theaters on November 27 before arriving on Netflix on December 11. The animated feature is directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen, marking her feature directorial debut, with Fanny Burdino and Samuel Doux credited as screenwriters. 

The Netflix acquisition also gives the project an intriguing festival pedigree. In Waves opened the 2026 Cannes Critics’ Week, where its animation and emotional storytelling attracted attention before Netflix secured global rights outside France. The film subsequently became part of Netflix’s broader 2026 animation slate, giving a relatively intimate independent production the kind of global platform usually reserved for much larger animated properties.

There is something very Netflix about that trajectory. The streamer has spent years proving that a project does not need an established franchise attached to it if the underlying visual language is strong enough. In Waves offers exactly that proposition, transforming Dungo’s illustrated memoir into an animated feature that reportedly combines watercolor-like environments with 3D CGI to create subtle movement and a dreamlike quality. 

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And then the story pulls the film away from the comfort of a conventional teenage romance.

AJ Dungo’s In Waves draws directly from his own experience. The story follows AJ, a shy Los Angeles teenager who loves skateboarding and drawing, as he meets Kristen, an enthusiastic surfer, at a high school dance. Their interests begin to overlap as Kristen introduces AJ to surfing, and the relationship grows into a shared fascination with the ocean. That happiness, however, is interrupted when Kristen develops a serious illness.

The narrative therefore becomes more than a coming-of-age romance. Dungo intertwines the couple’s relationship with the history and culture of surfing, using the ocean as both setting and emotional metaphor. The original graphic memoir was explicitly shaped around Dungo processing the loss of his partner to cancer, which gives the adaptation a very different emotional texture from the usual glossy Netflix romance. 

The casting also adds some considerable pedigree. Stephanie Hsu voices Kristen, while Will Sharpe voices AJ, bringing two performers associated with projects such as Everything Everywhere All at Once and The White Lotus into an animated romance that appears determined to let silence, imagery, and atmosphere do as much storytelling as dialogue. 

With its graphic-novel origins, festival reception, and unconventional animation style, it has all the ingredients of the kind of sleeper title that grows beyond its initial audience.

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What do you think about Netflix adapting AJ Dungo’s In Waves? Share your thoughts in the comments.