The novel by Todd Strasser (written under the pen name Morton Rhue) on which the film The Wave is based is a core study text in German schools, and etched into the film is the anxious need to keep new generations involved in, and frightened by, the detail of their nation’s past. Ironically, however, the real-life experiment upon which the novel’s content was based took place in California. In April 1967, teacher Ron Jones decided to address his students’ questions over civilian indifference to Nazi atrocities with a practical demonstration of the effects of mass hysteria. According to Jones himself, he introduced his class to discipline, strict control and shared ideals, and they responded with wild-eyed willingness, until he had to dissolve the project for fear it was going too far.