A lot of movies look really pretty. A lot of movies have creative sound design. And a lot of movies might feature a standout performance that makes the overall bland story worth the watch. However, very rarely does a film absolutely shatter my expectations regarding how well every single one of its technical pieces come together. Darius Marder's feature directorial debut Sound of Metal is one of the most gripping looks at disability ever put to screen. While the writing and direction were downright phenomenal, the lead performance and the sound design that revolves around his character stole every second. Never before have I seen a film so uniquely utilize sound and it could not have been better suited for a story like this. Although this film spoke to me perfectly in this time of my life, as I have been studying sound design for a few semesters, it is hard not to be utterly engaged in this story: so much so that this might just be my favorite film of the entire year.
Drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) and his singer girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke) are part of a small, heavy metal group touring across the country. When Ruben suddenly starts to lose his hearing and go deaf from all of the extended damage to his ears, he must grapple with leaving behind the musical world he once knew and coping with a new world of silence that seems inevitable. The writing and direction throughout this whole film is something on an entirely new plane of filmmaking and I was constantly astounded by the storytelling choices that were made. Director Darius Marder wrote this film with his brother Abraham Marder and the creative fluency between them is just palpable. Compelling from beginning to end, Sound of Metal wastes no time getting right into the central conflict of this story and takes its lead character on such an incredible and emotional journey. Being a heavy metal drummer is something never taken very lightly and placing Ruben in this role and promptly having him leave it is so decimating to his personal work ethic but it makes this film so interesting. Deaf people and heavy metal drummers seem to be on the opposite ends of the audio spectrum and this made Ruben's transition so, so powerful. He was taken on such an interesting journey that never felt out-of-place or ridiculous.
In fact, one of the greatest things I loved about this film was its examination of feeling like you are a burden to the people that you love. People with disabilities can often feel that way and the writing did such a great job of showing how Ruben dealt with that. Every aspect of the writing of this film felt so authentic and it was never cheesy or exploitative of deaf people but rather approached their disability with grace in a genuinely understanding way. The film also does a wonderful job of contrasting Ruben's desire to fix his problem vs. the deaf community's acceptance of what life has dealt them and this made for such a great inner conflict for our protagonist. Marder's direction was so great for this and while this film starts off with a raucous bang, it beautifully transitions into mostly silent scenes for the entire film without ever managing to lose its steam. The "moment of stillness" motif that pulses throughout this film is such a great, personal thing to include when talking about the subject matter and I just adored how Marder tackled it overall.
Riz Ahmed's performance as our lead character is out of this world and his range of acting talents is put on full display here. When hearing about the premise of this film, one might think that the lead character would be very angry and full of resentment towards the world, spending the entire runtime as a grouchy asshole who continuously destroys the life around him. However, while there are definitely those moments of ire that Ruben feels, Ahmed's performance as a whole is so versatile and genuine that I found it hard to believe that he wasn't actually deaf. On top of Ahmed learning the drums and sign language months in advance for this film, his full-bodied performance throughout the movie just goes to show how talented of an actor he is, as he can really make his characters appealing to any audience. I genuinely felt bad for Ruben at multiple points throughout Sound of Metal and while the writing had a lot to do with that, Ahmed was the biggest catalyst. He really embodies this character's struggles and emotional turmoil/handling of the situation better than I would have expected and he just dominates this film. Along with some excellent, supporting performances from Olivia Cooke and Paul Raci, the simultaneous frustration and embrace of fate shown by these actors and actresses were amazing and their dedication to the emotional side of this story was stupendous.
The cinematography and editing were solid too but the sound design is what really makes this film stand out amongst the rest of its technicals. The many different perspectives of Ruben's hearing are what made up this sound design in its entirety and the focus on making the film sound like what he hears was just a masterful choice. Going back and forth between an able-bodied listener and Ruben's changing perspective was just magnificent and it really puts one into his shoes to make one feel as if they are experiencing what he is at that moment. The use of bass boosting, scratchy audio, and pure silence only touch the surface of techniques that these brilliant sound designers used to make the audience feel Ruben's pain and I was so enthralled by every choice they made. Just like in many films, this movie capitalizes on the knowledge of how powerful silence can be. Throughout many moments of this movie and especially in the final shots, silence plays such a deeply emotional part that I could not help but be blown away by. Sound of Metal just goes to show how impactful filmmaking can be when there obviously exists that personal touch. This masterpiece of sound design not only manages to ground its story in an emotional state but it brings along its audience in the most spectacular forms possible.
Sound of Metal is exactly what I'm looking for in cinematic storytelling: a grounded and emotional story with meticulous technical details to really enhance the film's experience. I went into this movie with very high expectations after hearing so many raving reviews and this does not happen often but my expectations were actually surpassed. I already see myself rewatching and studying this film over and over again and Marder's use of sound to make this already riveting story even better just proves how masterful he already is at his craft. It's quite a shame that this was a streaming release because this film deserves the theatrical experience more than any other movie of this entire year.
My Rating: ★★★★★
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