# We Are the Wave
**We Are the Wave** (German: *Wir sind die Welle*) is a German teen drama television series released on Netflix on November 1, 2019, in which a charismatic new student leads four school outsiders into a protest movement that radicalizes out of control[1](https://www.netflix.com/title/80218819). It consists of six episodes and is a loose adaptation of Morton Rhue's 1981 young adult novel *Die Welle* (published in English as *[The Wave](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-wave-novel)*), which itself drew on a 1967 classroom social experiment in California[2](https://www.fernsehserien.de/wir-sind-die-welle) • [3](https://www.tvspielfilm.de/news/serien/wir-sind-die-welle-darum-ist-die-netflix-serie-gescheitert,9997312,ApplicationArticle.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | *Wir sind die Welle* |
| Platform and premiere | Netflix, November 1, 2019[2](https://www.fernsehserien.de/wir-sind-die-welle) |
| Format | Six-episode miniseries, German-language drama[1](https://www.netflix.com/title/80218819) |
| Basis | Loose adaptation of Morton Rhue's 1981 novel *Die Welle*, rooted in the 1967 Third Wave experiment[2](https://www.fernsehserien.de/wir-sind-die-welle) • [3](https://www.tvspielfilm.de/news/serien/wir-sind-die-welle-darum-ist-die-netflix-serie-gescheitert,9997312,ApplicationArticle.html) |
| Key crew | Executive producer Dennis Gansel; writer Jan Berger; directors Anca Miruna Lăzărescu (episodes 1, 2, 5) and Mark Monheim (episodes 3, 4, 6)[3](https://www.tvspielfilm.de/news/serien/wir-sind-die-welle-darum-ist-die-netflix-serie-gescheitert,9997312,ApplicationArticle.html) |
| Main cast | Ludwig Simon (Tristan Broch), Luise Befort (Lea Herst), Michelle Barthel (Zazie Elsner), Mohamed Issa (Rahim Hadad), Daniel Friedl (Hagen Lemmart)[2](https://www.fernsehserien.de/wir-sind-die-welle) |
| Setting | The fictional small German town of Meppersfeld[4](https://www.cineman.ch/article/netflix-kritik-wir-sind-die-welle-eine-dramaserie-um-jugendliche-die-den-aufstand-proben) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and plot
The series follows Lea, a bored high school student from a wealthy family, who is drawn to Tristan, a smart and confident new classmate who defends the school's misfits[1](https://www.netflix.com/title/80218819) • [5](https://www.wackerberg.de/tatort/welle.php). Tristan recruits the outsiders Zazie, Rahim, and Hagen, and Lea joins them, using each teenager's personal circumstances to bind them into a shared fight against perceived injustices[2](https://www.fernsehserien.de/wir-sind-die-welle) • [5](https://www.wackerberg.de/tatort/welle.php).
The five found a movement they call "Die Welle" ("The Wave"). What begins as an idealistic, partly playful uprising against the establishment develops a threatening dynamic of its own[2](https://www.fernsehserien.de/wir-sind-die-welle). Their protest actions target plastic waste, burger chains, disposable fashion, factory farming, and the right-wing populist party NfD, a thinly veiled reference to the AfD[6](https://www.derstandard.de/story/2000110462772/wir-sind-die-welle-auf-netflixwie-weit-wuerdest-du-gehen) • [7](https://www.filmstarts.de/nachrichten/18528197.html). After their protests go viral on social media, the group grows beyond the founders' control; a poorly planned raid on a slaughterhouse and later actions against a right-wing politician and an SUV dealership escalate the movement toward violence[1](https://www.netflix.com/title/80218819). The final episode centers on an action that crosses the line between peaceful protest and violence[1](https://www.netflix.com/title/80218819).
## Relationship to the source material
The 1981 novel and its predecessors tell of a history teacher, Ron Jones, who ran an experiment at a California high school in 1967 to show how easily a fascist movement can arise; the experiment was aborted after five days[3](https://www.tvspielfilm.de/news/serien/wir-sind-die-welle-darum-ist-die-netflix-serie-gescheitert,9997312,ApplicationArticle.html) • [6](https://www.derstandard.de/story/2000110462772/wir-sind-die-welle-auf-netflixwie-weit-wuerdest-du-gehen). A well-received German film version directed by Dennis Gansel, starring Jürgen Vogel, followed in 2008[3](https://www.tvspielfilm.de/news/serien/wir-sind-die-welle-darum-ist-die-netflix-serie-gescheitert,9997312,ApplicationArticle.html).
**A deliberate reversal.** The series inverts the source: instead of a teacher-led classroom experiment that turns students into fascists, a teenage offender founds a protest movement that drifts toward the left-wing extremist spectrum[5](https://www.wackerberg.de/tatort/welle.php) • [8](https://www.goethe.de/ins/ca/de/kul/flm/sef/21779582.html). Gansel returned as executive producer and explained that he wanted to think the theme a decade further, toward the youth movements of the present driven by idealism and the desire for change[8](https://www.goethe.de/ins/ca/de/kul/flm/sef/21779582.html). The Goethe-Institut noted that the choice to portray radicalizing left-wing activists rather than fascists provoked heated debate on social networks immediately after the teaser's release[8](https://www.goethe.de/ins/ca/de/kul/flm/sef/21779582.html).
## Production
The scripts were written by [Jan Berger](https://www.edgepedia.org/jan-berger), and episodes were divided between directors Anca Miruna Lăzărescu (episodes 1, 2, and 5) and Mark Monheim (episodes 3, 4, and 6)[3](https://www.tvspielfilm.de/news/serien/wir-sind-die-welle-darum-ist-die-netflix-serie-gescheitert,9997312,ApplicationArticle.html). Production was by Rat Pack Filmproduktion[5](https://www.wackerberg.de/tatort/welle.php).
Most filming took place in [North Rhine-Westphalia](https://www.edgepedia.org/north-rhine-westphalia). Locations included the former slaughterhouse in Euskirchen, which serves as a key setting; an abandoned swimming pool on the Brabanter Platz in Hürth as the group's secret headquarters; and the Alfred-Schütte-Werk in Cologne-Poll, dressed as a weapons factory, along with Cologne's Südbrücke bridge[5](https://www.wackerberg.de/tatort/welle.php).
## Reception
German critics were largely negative. Serienjunkies called the series a "masterpiece of superficiality" that reproduces clichés and, with its diffuse political stance, manages to anger both left and right[9](https://www.serienjunkies.de/die-welle/kritik.html). FILMSTARTS judged that the many themes it raises, from gentrification and climate change to meat consumption, capitalism, gun violence, and right-wing extremism, are checked off a system-criticism checklist rather than explored in depth[7](https://www.filmstarts.de/nachrichten/18528197.html).
**Timing and framing drew specific criticism.** TV Spielfilm argued that portraying a left-wing eco-movement as radical destroyers while right-wing extremism is pushed to the edge of the story was an untenable narrative decision, and noted that the scripts were finished before the [Fridays for Future](https://www.edgepedia.org/fridays-for-future) movement reached Germany in January 2019, leaving unfortunate parallels to the real climate protests led by [Greta Thunberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/greta-thunberg)[3](https://www.tvspielfilm.de/news/serien/wir-sind-die-welle-darum-ist-die-netflix-serie-gescheitert,9997312,ApplicationArticle.html). Serienjunkies also faulted the timing, since the Halle attack had occurred less than a month before the premiere[9](https://www.serienjunkies.de/die-welle/kritik.html). Some reviewers were more positive: Deutschlandfunk Kultur found the series refreshingly political for a German mainstream production, with problems such as xenophobia, greed, and climate change questioned with some complexity in the Wave's actions[5](https://www.wackerberg.de/tatort/welle.php). On IMDb the series holds a rating of 6.2 out of 10[5](https://www.wackerberg.de/tatort/welle.php).
## References
1. [We Are the Wave, Netflix official site](https://www.netflix.com/title/80218819)
2. [Wir sind die Welle, fernsehserien.de](https://www.fernsehserien.de/wir-sind-die-welle)
3. ["Wir sind die Welle": Darum ist die Netflix-Serie gescheitert, TV SPIELFILM](https://www.tvspielfilm.de/news/serien/wir-sind-die-welle-darum-ist-die-netflix-serie-gescheitert,9997312,ApplicationArticle.html)
4. [Netflix-Kritik «Wir sind die Welle», Cineman](https://www.cineman.ch/article/netflix-kritik-wir-sind-die-welle-eine-dramaserie-um-jugendliche-die-den-aufstand-proben)
5. [Wir sind die Welle – Jugenddrama-Serie von Netflix, eifelkrimi.de (Wackerberg)](https://www.wackerberg.de/tatort/welle.php)
6. ["Wir sind die Welle" auf Netflix: Wie weit würdest du gehen?, derStandard.de](https://www.derstandard.de/story/2000110462772/wir-sind-die-welle-auf-netflixwie-weit-wuerdest-du-gehen)
7. [Flach, flacher, "Wir sind die Welle", FILMSTARTS.de](https://www.filmstarts.de/nachrichten/18528197.html)
8. [„Wir sind die (neue) Welle", Goethe-Institut Kanada](https://www.goethe.de/ins/ca/de/kul/flm/sef/21779582.html)
9. [Wir sind die Welle: Kritik der deutschen Netflix-Serie, Serienjunkies.de](https://www.serienjunkies.de/die-welle/kritik.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Teen and coming-of-age drama*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license