Factual error: It's set in 1951 and has the song 'I'll tell my ma' by the Dubliners which wasn't written until 1963.
Factual error: At the beginning of the movie, the Battle of Scheveveningen (1653) is depicted. However some of the British ships sport a gaff-rigged mizzen spanker, which was not introduced until late in the next century.
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)
Factual error: The producers took a lot of pride in using period-accurate furniture and clothing. But the family's house and furniture aren't remotely accurate for their actual situation. The table, the chairs, the house with a sleeping loft - all those took technology and manpower that they didn't have, and we've already seen that they had nothing to trade either. And they have more furniture than could have fit in that wagon.
Factual error: The search that cracks the case is nonsense from a simple logical standpoint. There are three people, whose deaths have never been related together, but that all died because of tetryzoline poisoning. Entering all three of those names in google would not produce relevant results or even narrow the spectrum, because it's three unrelated deaths. (01:08:40)
Factual error: Ted is driving the car and goes airborne into a barn where the car comes to a sudden stop. Samantha, who is sleeping in the back seat without her seatbelt, doesn't shoot forwards from the rapid deceleration.
Factual error: The girls missed the bus for the football match because one of them got stuck. Luckily they manage to stop a passing truck and ask for a lift to overtake the bus, which, they stress, was bringing the girls "to Trabzon." When their custodians see them cheer on TV and drama ensues, the match is Galatasaray (GS) vs Trabzonspor (TZS); the home team is Galatasaray, so they should be playing in Istanbul. (00:27:30 - 00:29:30)
Factual error: At the beginning of the movie when Danny Glover is sitting at the chessboard, the pieces are lined up wrong on both sides of the board. If Danny has the white pieces, the king should be on his right. The black king should be on the opponent's left.
Factual error: A corpse that has been dead for hours is still bleeding the moment the coroner pricks the skin with a scalpel. Here it is particularly incongruous because the victim died 'cooked' from within and the internal organs, as shown, are all burnt to a crisp. The coroner also did not open the victim's mouth before getting to the cutting bit; it's like he did not perform the most basic check first. (01:04:00)
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.
Factual error: The limo used in Louisiana has a front license plate and it's a Louisiana plate. Louisiana only issues a rear plate.
Factual error: The movie is set in the late 90s but in the parking lot scenes, the pair are surrounded by cars as new as 2012.
Factual error: During the opening credits, it is stated that in WW2, German troops gave the US Marines the name of "Devil Dogs." At no time did the Wehrmacht engage the USMC.
Factual error: Michael's wife meets with Longo in prison, and she has an iPhone. The trial was in 2003, 4 years before the introduction of the iPhone in 2007.
Factual error: Evita Peron died in 1952. In this movie, the doctor finishes embalming her during the Coup d'état that deposes her husband...in 1955.
Factual error: In the end credits, when the listing of songs used in the film is rolling, the Kiss song is listed as "Detroit City Rock." Actually, the song title is "Detroit Rock City." (01:38:10)
Factual error: Tina's striptease dance is mentioned several times as a notable scene in the fictional 1986 movie 'Camp Bloodbath'. When that scene plays out, the song Tina dances to is Warrant's 'Cherry Pie', which wasn't released until 1990.
Factual error: The movie is set in 2015 as clearly stated. When Ben reads the newspaper waiting for Jules' first mail after their meeting, the newspaper he's holding shows the headline "NFL Revises Settlement, Making Open-Ended Pledge", which was from the New York Times of June 26, 2014, and when his co-workers helpfully cover his obviously portentous erection with the newspaper, they do it using a page from July 7, "The Fallacy of Balanced Literacy" (this one detail is helped by freeze-frame, since the page is upside-down). Moreover, when Jules joins Matt in the bedroom after she fell asleep herself with Paige, the TV in the room is playing Jimmy Fallon's show from March 5th, again of 2014. (00:20:05 - 00:38:40)
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.
Factual error: Set in San Francisco, the main female character keeps referring to herself (and so do others addressing her) as "Detective Maggie Price." San Francisco is the one place in the US where the correct designation for a detective is "inspector."