Continuity mistake: Charlie's mock trial: the latina maid walks up the stairs, with Sebastian saying "OhmahGod, thank you." In the foreground, London is holding her goblet with her right hand, but in the next shot she has it in her left. (00:05:15)
Factual error: The bunkers which are visible in the movie have not been prepped to look how they should in the years after the war. They would have been plastered and painted, not looking old and rusty as they appear in the movie.
Factual error: Summer and Carmen are at the saloon and catch on the local news the report of the kidnapping. The scene is set in Tuscany, Italy, but the news anchor is Spanish actress Paz Vega, speaking with an obvious accent and mispronouncing words. To make the whole situation even more absurd, she is supposed to portray a native Italian speaker, "Giulia Carni": the last name is Italian sounding but nonexistent in reality, and the headline used for the news report, "Nonna-napper", "kidnapper of grandmother" has such an awkward and unnatural sound and feel in Italian and for an Italian audience, that nobody ever would use it. (00:37:50)
Continuity mistake: When the two protagonists are introduced to the private room and watch Dan's video message, the clock in the background never moves despite the several minutes duration.
Continuity mistake: When Penelope is sunbathing whilst Paul is on his laptop, she is face down with her head touching the lounger, but in the next shot, her head is suddenly raised above the lounger, then back to leaning against the lounger in the next shot.
Factual error: Although this 2015 Norwegian disaster film is far superior to the many American disaster movies that it emulates, "The Wave" still suffers the most common error found in tsunami-themed disaster flicks: Crystal-clear flood waters. Of course, tsunami flood waters in particular are always inky-black with churning sediment and debris.
Continuity mistake: When Zipper drops her off at her car at the beach, Marnie is wearing boots when she gets off his motorcycle. When she walks to the car she's wearing shoes.
Revealing mistake: At the cocktail party in his honor, Rita Richards introduces herself. Joaquin Phoenix's scotch is in a transparent plastic cup, and you notice what happens in most movies, here with particular clarity; when he brings it to his mouth, he does not take even a sip, but just pretends. (00:06:05)
Continuity mistake: The resident bully approaches Mara once her rather embarrassing mum left. Mara turns around and tries to power her way out of the predicament; in the background, the girl with the bright red dress has her arm across her waist, but at the cut she has both arms behind her back. (00:02:40)
Continuity mistake: Maggie arrives home and puts the shopping bags and her handbag on the kitchen isle, next to her daughter. The handbag rolls sideways, but in the following shot it is straight and with its strap adjusted differently. (00:03:00)
Continuity mistake: Starting their investigation by the pool, Maggie remarks about the difficulties of finding a body in the woods at night. Brooke Burns' hair is clear off her shoulders all of a sudden, while it's in front of them in most of the rest of the scene. (00:24:25)
Continuity mistake: After the shooting at the concert, Lysistrata is in the bathroom downing the pill with some Don Julio tequila. The bottle lid is to the left of the bottle in the wide angles, to the right in close-up. (00:10:00)
Continuity mistake: Théo shows up in class unannounced. The teacher tells him to sit next to "that girl", mistaking Daniel for one. The classmates of course have a cackle at that; the girl at the desk behind Daniel's laughs holding a pen in her left hand at first, right hand at the cut. (00:08:50)
Other mistake: The town is Mt Barker. The red and blue ribbons on the sheep pen say Mt Baker.
Continuity mistake: When Clarence is looking over the scroll of paper, in the close-up shot, she is holding the paper with both hands. When it cuts to a different angle, she is holding it with only her left hand. (00:08:54)
Factual error: The timeline is completely wrong. The film begins in 1902, at which point Gertrude Bell has just left Oxford and is about to go to Persia. In fact, Bell was 34 in 1902 and went to Persia ten years earlier, in 1892. By 1902 she had already been travelling for a decade.
Factual error: A library assistant is showing his cellphone to a Fed. The Fed pulls out his gun and shoots the assistant from about 8 inches away into his left temple. Another Fed, standing to the immediate right of the assistant is shown after the shot. But there is no blood or material spray on him at all. His white shirt is immaculate. In fact, there is no blood anywhere.
Continuity mistake: Ilya is standing across from and about midway between Chris and Alicia. He spears the shovel into the ground, but it unintentionally falls over to his right (mostly off-screen). The next view of the shovel shows it has fallen to Ilya's left. (The entire shovel is to the right of Chris, which would be too far regardless of which direction the shovel's handle fell.) In the next view, the shovel's blade is opposite Chris' left foot and later the angle is different. (00:36:30)
Continuity mistake: The handful of yams (pureed) that Glory throws onto the left side of her bowl is spread out, relatively flat, and spans close to the bowl's rim. Suddenly, the yams are piled higher and further away from the bowl. The yams on both sides appear to vary, but other views are too short to be confirmed (without pausing). (00:48:11)
Factual error: The delivery van bringing gear for the walk has a 718 area code on it. That area code did not exist until 1984.