Ruby (Emilia Jones) is like almost every other teenager at her school. Socially awkward and not a particularly bright student, she coasts through on her way to the inevitable life awaiting her on her family’s fishing trawler. Throw into the mix the fact that she is the only hearing member of a deaf family (CODA stands for Child of Deaf Adults) and that fate seems even more inescapable; they need her as a translator in order to continue operating. But Ruby loves to sing and – on a whim – enrols in a choir class where she is exposed to quirky music teacher Bernardo Villalobos (Eugenio Derbez) who inspires her to dream of more in life, forcing Ruby into a personal struggle between loyalty to her family and striking a path for herself.
You’ve probably seen a film like CODA before. Director/writer Sian Heder sticks closely to coming-of-age conventions in the way things unfold, but sets the film apart from other genre-mates with the sheer amount of heart and charm injected into the script and the thoughtful examination of the deaf experience on an everyday level. The closeness of Ruby’s working class family is at the centre of that; living in their own small world and relying on each family member pulling their weight to get by. Ruby’s role is key to the family, as the only person capable of interpreting and bartering prices; her path to self-discovery isn’t paved with high-school parties and experimental drug use, but through attempting to balance her family’s demands with her own desires as she learns that she perhaps can’t keep her feet in both worlds.
The reason it all works so well is thanks to the pitch perfect performances of the entire cast. Emilia Jones is superb as Ruby, battling her way through each day as she juggles the expectations of everyone around her and the responsibility that comes with them. She’s a tough-as-nails hard worker, due in no small part to her situation and need to simply get on with things, but there is a softer side that shines through as the possibility of securing a future in music increases and her ability to hold everything together wanes. Jones perfectly captures those warring sides, perfectly prickly in the tougher moments but breaking your heart when everything becomes too much for her. It is a truly special performance that should rightly earn her plenty of attention.
The scene stealer however is Troy Kotsur’s performance as Ruby’s father Frank. Deaf in real life, Kotsur relies on lively, emotive facial expressions and expressive body language to make his points, often in an overly frustrated fashion, at people who don’t understand him. His relationship with Ruby is the emotional core of the film, torn between having to rely on his daughter’s help to keep the family afloat and his desire to see her succeed out in the wider world, and Kotsur and Jones’ remarkable chemistry make their scenes incredibly heartwarming and endearing, even when they are at odds with one another. They also share many of the film’s lighter moments, with Kotsur showing some solid comedic timing as he injects some much needed levity into an otherwise dramatic scene. Easily the best supporting performance in a film this year, Kostur should be a shoe-in for nominations come award season, and for good reason.
Where last year’s excellent Sound of Metal conveyed the deaf experience through the lens of one man’s journey from hearing to deaf, struggling to cope with the immense change in his life, CODA takes a look at deafness on a more granular, everyday level. This is a family that has lived with deafness their entire lives and as such has developed their own shorthand and way of getting by, and getting to live inside that for two hours is fascinating. Unlike Sound of Metal’s fading sound design which showed the changing world from that character’s perspective, we see things through Ruby’s viewpoint: unable to concentrate on homework as the house constantly booms with noise made from her unaware sibling and parents and forced to wake the house up in the morning with flashing lights instead of alarms. They’re small details but ones that really go a long way to building a connection with Ruby and demonstrating just how vital to the household her presence is. When the prospect of her leaving causes uproar in the house you understand both sides of the argument; she is both essential and deserves to be allowed to pursue her own life.
Despite its genre trappings and familiar plot CODA manages to stand out from other coming-of-age stories thanks to its grounded look at a type of family that is not often as well represented on screens. With terrific performances across the board – particularly from Emilia Jones and Troy Kotsur – and a deeply affecting emotional core, CODA will constantly have you smiling, even through the inevitable tears. There’s a reason this was the highest-selling film in Sundance Film Festival history, see it now.
CODA stars Emilia Jones, Troy Kotsur, Marlee Matlin, Daniel Durant, Ferdi Walsh-Peelo, Amy Forsyth & Eugenio Derbez – Streaming on Apple TV+ now.