The documentary sets its exploration of indigenous Taiwanese identity in two distinct locations. The first half focuses on three young Taiwanese indigenous individuals, all from small towns in eastern Taiwan. The Taiwanese youths introduce the film crew to their tribal village and an older member of their community, who talks of and displays the traditional practice of weaving. In each case, it is the young person himself, rather than the film crew who leads the questioning of the elder in regard to their cultural traditions and practices. This gives the impression that the youths themselves share the perspective of the viewer as an outsider, in observing their own culture's practices. The documentary then briefly shows footage of a trip to Canada by a group of Taiwanese indigenous youth, there to observe and interact with indigenous Canadian cultural practices. Although no more culturally linked than indigenous Canadians and non-indigenous Canadians, indigenous Taiwanese and their Canadian counterparts evidently share common challenges in preserving and maintaining an indigenous cultural identity in today's world.

From Canada, the documentary moves to addressing Taiwanese indigenous identity in a more regional Pacific context, providing the second focus of the documentary. Specifically, the documentary follows the pilgrimage of a collection of Taiwanese indigenous youth performing for the first time at the revered Pacific Festival on the Arts, in Honiara, 2012. This reverence is well reflected in the footage as the documentary is truly colourful and brought to life through the images and sounds displaying Pacific Islander culture. The documentary specifically follows one of the three indigenous youths introduced at the beginning, Yubax, who attends the festival. The camera follows her interacting with and observing the Pacific Islanders and their culture; it is through her observations that the viewer begins to situate Taiwan within the Pacific. The notion of a legitimate Taiwanese 'place' in a Pacific world is not so much argued by the documentary, as simply presented organically within it, reflecting the documentary's fluid nature and further reflected by the fluid title of the documentary itself. In contrast with the interviews in Taiwan, the interviews with Pacific Islanders concerning their traditional practices, are more positively portrayed, through a more colourful and lively atmosphere. This creates a perception that indigenous Taiwanese should possibly look to the Pacific for a greater inspiration in the possibility of upholding their cultural ways.

At the end, the last day in Honiara, provides the documentary's overarching message through the words of the young Yubax who talks of her personal loss of identity and not knowing who she really is. This personal loss is evidently caused by factors greater than Yubax herself that she essentially cannot control. Thus for the future, Yubax states that she will not insist on sticking with traditions, yet she poignantly emphasises that you need to know the 'original story'. Writings that Weave Waves overall provides a colourful, sensitive and honest introduction into the way to navigate traditional identity in a modern world, from an indigenous Taiwanese and also a Pacific Islander perspective. It serves as a good introduction, from which one can then further investigate more specific dimensions of the subject.