Sound of Metal

Starring: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, Mathieu Amalric

Director: Darius Marder

Ruben (Riz Ahmed) is a recovering addict and drummer for a heavy metal group fronted by his girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke). While embarking on a cross country tour, Ruben begins to experience hearing loss. After visiting a doctor, he learns that he can’t get his hearing back but he can protect the hearing he has left and if he has enough money can get cochlear implants. While Ruben wants to continue with the tour, a concerned Lou convinces him to get help. That help comes in the form of Joe (Paul Raci) who runs a community for deaf people that could really help Ruben. While he is always focused on getting back to music and helping support Lou, Ruben grows to not think of his situation as a handicap, embracing his new condition and navigating his new life.

What an emotionally draining, thought provoking, yet ultimately uplifting film. I remember when I was younger, I was playing basketball and suddenly lost vision in one of my eyes. It turns out it was something called an “ocular migraine” and while my vision did return, the sudden prospect of losing my eyesight was downright terrifying. The idea of losing my sight, or any sense for that matter, is something that has never left me and this film surfaced those fears again for me. That sense of fear and dread is present throughout the film, but never used in a manipulative way. In fact, the film is written and performed with much appreciated sensitivity and respect.

First time director Marder (who co-wrote The Place Beyond the Pines with Derek Cianfrance) and his sound design team deserve a lot of credit for what helps the film work, often cutting between what Ruben is hearing to what is actually happening. This is not only used to great effect in the final fifteen minutes once Ruben has his implants, but also in the beginning when Ruben is first going through tests when he starts losing his hearing. What he is hearing isn’t what the doctor is saying, resulting in one of the many gut punch scenes the film has to offer.

Riz Ahmed is simply stunning and it's hard to not be in awe of his empathetic and honest performance. It’s easy for an actor to command the screen in a fit of rage. Instead, Ahmed embraces the silence, allowing him to embody Ruben as a fully realized character with fears about his new condition and who we believably see grow in front of our eyes. While it was easy to see he was destined for stardom in 2014’s Nightcrawler, his performance is so raw and genuine here it will be hard for anyone to ignore the actor’s talent. Olivia Cooke is fantastic as well as Lou, but she disappears for a good part of the film as Ruben begins his stay with Joe. I would have liked to have seen more of their relationship, which unfortunately gets left to some expositional dialogue towards the end of the film. I want to commend the film for the casting of actual deaf actors in supporting roles. Paul Raci deserves serious consideration for awards and he has an absolutely heartbreaking scene with Ahmed late in the film that reduced me to tears.

Well acted and written with care and respect, it's hard not to consider this one of my favorites of the year.

Grade: A

Sound of Metal is available to stream on Amazon Prime