Continuity mistake: During the fight in the garage, the protagonist neutralizes (and maybe neuters) one of the baddies crotching him with the car door. In that sequence, his hands keep changing position on the door. (00:07:30)
Continuity mistake: Spoiler alert: About halfway through the movie, we see Emma Roberts coming out of the shower, and the camera focuses on the gunshot wound on her shoulder, with the round scar of the entry wound on her back, and the much rougher, ragged scar of the exit wound on her front. Then at the end of the movie, where it's revealed that Kiernan Shipka and Emma Roberts were actually playing the same character, just nine years apart, Kiernan Shipka gets shot by the police officer when he finds her in the room with the severed heads. Problem is: she was facing the officer. The scars on Emma Roberts are the wrong way around. (00:31:05 - 01:15:35)
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.
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.
Continuity mistake: At the very start of the movie as the 2 guys walk down the alley way, the one in the black jacket lifts his arm up as he passes the rubbish bin. In the next shot from the front both his arms are in his pockets and the rubbish bins completely disappear. (01:00:00 - 01:01:00)
Other mistake: At the dinner, there are no fewer than 10 elaborate dishes, all exquisitely plated with fresh fruit and herbs. There's no way that that kitchen produced even one of those dishes, let alone all 10 of them. The only prep is when Eden stirs a single pan with perhaps enough sauce/mixture to form part of a dish for 3-4 people. There's no other food anywhere in the kitchen and the oven's not on. And no caterers or food delivery people ever arrive.
Continuity mistake: When the big truck chases the red car and repeatedly rams into it you can hear broken glass, etc. but in the next shots the back of the car is intact, red and shiny, without a scratch on it. (01:05:00 - 01:06:00)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie, when the kid says "Dad promised me..." the mom suddenly has her hand on his face mid-sentence at the cut. (01:28:00)
Factual error: A band poster for the Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth is shown while Bruce drives around the town, however the poster features the band as they are in 2015 while the film is set in 1990.
Continuity mistake: The blood on the good guy's white shirt continuously changes through the last chase. (01:22:00 - 01:26:00)
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: In the fighting scene in U-Bahnhof Alexanderplatz the underground trains move much faster than in real world. Alexanderplatz is a railhead station. The trains would either crash into a wall or would not have enough room to accelerate that fast.
Visible crew/equipment: When the boys approach the cop car and are trying the doors, the camera crane can be seen reflected off the bodywork of the car.
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)
Continuity mistake: After the opening scene in the Middle East, the scene cuts to an overview shot of London fading towards the U.S. Embassy. As the scene starts, the time on Big Ben is 3:05, but when the camera reaches the U.S. Embassy, the time read on the description at the bottom reads 8:15.
Continuity mistake: When Griffin gets out of bed, when he hears the clown song he pushes the bed sheets forward about 3 feet from the pillow but when his dad goes into Griffin's room, the sheets have been pulled up about half that length.
Factual error: When Elizabeth gets on a double-decker bus and meets Jack for the first time, she is asked to pay for a ticket which is issued from a machine. These devices were not available until the 1950s.
Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie, Olivia thanks Jake for saving her life. Her locket is sometimes half hidden by her T-shirt, and sometimes entirely visible. (01:22:00 - 01:23:00)