Featuring animated sequences and intimate profiles, the latest film from Athlete A directors Jon Shenk and Bonni Cohen offers another honest look at a pressing social issue.

By Michael Nordine

Every American soldier has left Afghanistan, but that doesn’t mean Afghanistan has left them. Jon Shenk and Bonni Cohen’s heartfelt documentary gives new meaning to the term “forever war” by revealing the lasting impact multiple deployments have had on a trio of Navy SEALs still struggling to truly come home years after retiring from the military. “In Waves and War” — taking its title from a passage in “The Odyssey” about working through suffering in order to embark on a new adventure — centers on, and eventually becomes part of, a burgeoning movement to treat post-traumatic stress disorder with two hallucinogens that have shown remarkable results when taken together.

That would be ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT. The former is extracted from the bark of the iboga tree in Gabon, while the latter is extracted from toads in the Sonoran Desert — an impressive cocktail, to be sure, but presented by the filmmakers as some kind of miracle cure. The first phase lasts more than 12 hours and, as depicted in artfully animated sequences, allows users to tap into long-buried memories and feelings in a way that’s as confrontational as it is cathartic. (One of the veterans who tries it is on the set of “The Wonder Years,” a recognizable childhood favorite that shaped his idea of the ideal family unit — and one that couldn’t have looked less like his own upbringing.) One clinician describes ibogaine as “sandblasting” the psyche before “the toad” polishes it, ultimately helping the user feel whole again.