Malibu Rescue: The Next Wave

Malibu Rescue: The Next Wave continues the story of the Junior Rescuers known as The Flounders, who return to Tower 2 for another summer on Malibu Beach. The International Junior Rescue Championships are coming to Southern California, putting the group in the spotlight. The competition takes an unexpected turn for the team: when the American squad is unable to compete, Tyler, Dylan, Eric, Lizzie and Gina step up to represent their country in an extreme lifeguard contest against the world's best young rescuers.

The film is directed by Savage Steve Holland, whose credits reach back to the 1980s comedies Better Off Dead... and One Crazy Summer and include several later television movies. It follows Malibu Rescue, the 2019 film in the same series, as the second of the two theatrical-style films. Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas wrote the screenplay, with Amy Sydorick producing. Ricardo Hurtado, Breanna Yde, Jackie R. Jacobson, Abby Donnelly, Alkoya Brunson and JT Neal lead a cast of twenty credited performers, most of them returning to roles established in the earlier film. The result is a short summer comedy that extends the series' characters into an international competition setting.

Audience response has been modest. With around 1,200 votes, the film holds a 5 out of 10 on IMDb, while on TMDB it sits at 6.2 out of 10 from a much smaller base of about 115 ratings. The gap between the two scores suggests a divided reaction rather than broad enthusiasm.