The Waves Will Carry Us

After several years in Taiwan, Ah Yao returns to Malaysia for his father’s funeral, expecting a quiet Taoist ceremony. Things take an unexpected turn when religious authorities intervene, claiming his father—who secretly converted to Islam—must be buried in an Islamic cemetery. Determined to honour their ancestral traditions, Ah Yao and his siblings embark on a darkly comical and unpredictable quest to reclaim the body, unearthing family secrets, cultural tensions, and a series of absurd challenges.

Delicately weaving past and present, The Waves Will Carry Us traces a diasporic history that begins with migration from China generations earlier and culminates in settlement and family life in Malaysia. The film opens an urgent conversation about systemic discrimination and citizenship, questioning whether displays of patriotism and assimilation truly matter, or whether it is how families hold together that ultimately defines belonging. With warmth and wit, this family tale reflects on the meaning of home, belonging, and migration.