Many agreed with the OP and expressed how sad it is that this is something a famous person has to consider when out and about. One popular comment reads: “What a time to be alive. JFC that Pedro even had to consider this. And Joaquin obviously immediately understood. Fuck.”

“The alt-right has spent YEARS taking stills from videos of people waving to pretend they were giving nazi salutes,” somebody else explained, while another added: “It started as a wave, but he was unknowingly edging towards it straightening out and moving upwards. And I don’t think that’s a gesture you want to be photographed making.”

“You can see how innocent the move actually is by the look on Joaquin’s face, and also how quickly he understands the point,” one more insisted. What a sad time we live in.”

“I feel like this is pretty clearly a wave and not a salute,” another argued, before reading the rest of the comments and adding: “Edit: you guys are right, I didn’t consider photos, and the current right-wing gotcha moment since Elon [Musk]’s salute.”

“this seems unnecessary and weird to me,” somebody else wrote, to which another corrected: “It’s necessary and weird. That’s the problem.”

While this theory does appear to be pretty popular, not everybody was convinced that this is what was going on in the video. 

“I have no idea why Pedro pulled his arm down but it definitely wasn’t because he thought Joaquin was saluting,” one cynic wrote. Another added: “He was clearly waving. People these days. Smh.”

“Reads to me more like an exaggerated goof between them, especially with Phoenix’s reaction,” somebody else wrote.