Rating of
3/4
Highly recommend
Matthew Brady - wrote on 12/08/20
Whoa, where did this movie come from?
As soon as the film started, I knew instantly I was in for an emotional ride, and I was right.
'Sound of Metal' is a great movie that felt so encouraging and honest. I admired how the movie portrays the deaf community in a more positive light, because in the media it's usually misrepresented, as it often reeks of denial and self-loathing. I can tell a lot of care and effort went into this.
It's very thought-provoking as well. The main character Ruben (Riz Ahmed) who is a heavy-metal drummer, where his entire life revolves around the world of sound and music, which sadly gets snatched away from him. This devastating part of his life also becomes the thing that would later define him. The silence makes him pause and consider what life can be like when we learn to accept and let things go. Not only accepting the lost of your hearing, but overcoming a nasty drug addiction. By losing apart of yourself isn't always doom and gloom after you let it sit for a while, because it can give you a brand-new perspective on things. You start to conclude that silence is heaven to the ears.
Riz Ahmed delivers a terrific and heart-breaking performance as Ruben. He's the type of actor that does such a great job of making you care for his characters and here is no different. Riz has such intense, and yet expressive eyes that convey so much on what the character is feeling or thinking. Every worry, frustration, sadness, joy, and fear were all felt through his performance.
Olivia Cooke, who I didn't recognize at first, also delivers a great performance as Lou, Ruben's girlfriend. There is nothing more soul crushing than watching someone you love at their lowest point both emotionally and mentally. It makes me wonder why she isn't a bigger star already, because I think she's fantastic.
I like how the movie barely has a score, as the background is often incredibly quiet. The movie opens with a loud heavy metal concert blasting away it's music, but from Ruben's point of view it slowly becomes more muffled and clogged up. It just shows that a great deal of thought went into the audio and that alone made the whole thing effective. The same thing applies to Darius Marder’s directing and Daniël Bouquet cinematography; fantastic and impactful.
