★★★★½

 Sound of Metal (2019)

Written by Dalton Welsh - February 3, 2021

Right at the tail end of an undeniably dry year for cinema director Darius Marder has given us a film worthy of positive discussion in ‘Sound of Metal’. The film follows Ruben, a drummer in a heavy metal band whose life is thrown into disarray when he begins to lose his hearing. With a restrained but effective visual style, an appropriate attentiveness to sound and a standout performance from Riz Ahmed, all of which helping to shine a light on the underexposed deaf community. Marder presents us with a truly unique story filled with quietly hard hitting emotion.

I have to start by talking about the performances of the film all of which are fantastic, with particular praise of course given to the film's lead Riz Ahmed. You can feel a genuine sense of frustration, disorientation and aimlessness from Ahmed as his character of Ruben must navigate the newfound situation he finds himself in. So much of the film relies on Ahmed’s non verbal performing, often done through close ups on his face, and every subtle articulation displaying his realisation of the major implications his hearing loss will have on his life is truly heart-breaking to watch. To the point where a blank quivering stare has an equal or greater emotional resonance to a guttural scream. And with so much of the film solely dedicated to Ruben, we are given invaluable time to see his emotional and spiritual journey throughout the film to get a real sense of how his life has been affected. The story itself really sheds a light upon those with hearing loss in a way that has so seldom been seen on film, and while the deaf community has such a wide span of differing experiences that could never all be captured in the one film, the representation and positive light they are shone in as simply experiencing life differently to those without hearing impairments feels as though it has the potential to be greatly empowering. 

Alongside Ahmed in the film we have Olivia Cooke as his girlfriend Lou and Paul Raci as Ruben’s new mentor and teacher Joe. The beginning stages of the film that display the strong connection between Lou and Ruben makes their subsequent emotional hurdles all the more impactful, with Lou’s complex emotions surrounding Ruben in his new-found state is conveyed excellently by Cooke. Then there is Paul Raci as Joe who works great as a calm and collected foil to Ruben’s impatience and disarray, with Raci, much like Ahmed, communicating so much through the intricacies of his facial expressions.

An equal highlight of the film is, befittingly, the sound design. With an absence of score to the film we are able to be placed in both the contemplative and unnerving silence experienced by Ruben. Enhanced by muffled audio of his surrounding environment, particularly effective as Ruben begins to experience hearing loss, the sound of the film changes with him, giving real insight into Ruben’s transition. We sympathise with Ruben’s struggle as we too try to discern what those around him are saying, which additionally works as an incredibly effective way to draw in the audience to the story.

As far as the visuals of the film are concerned, as stated Ruben is very much the vessel through which we view the story, which involves a great deal of close-ups. In doing so you feel a sense of being restricted to Ruben, trapped like he feels to his new predicament, shut off to the external world. Additionally the film makes heavy use of hand-held camera movement, making the viewing experience feel even more candid and real. So while the visual style isn’t anything new or unique, it doesn’t need to be, and if it were, it may come at the risk of detracting from the grounded nature of the story as well as the human emotion at its core.

So, after a very rocky year for film, director Darius Marder graciously presents us with a contemplative and deeply resonate emotional journey of a man’s unimaginably life altering hearing loss. The ringing, muffling and absence of non-diegetic music in the film as well as the compact and candid cinematography are what really elevate the film to being something truly special, sympathetic and moving. These factors made all the more engaging by a voluminous and nuanced performance by Riz Ahmed as our protagonist Ruben, accompanied by a great supporting cast in Olivia Cooke and Paul Raci.