‘Tis the season for outstanding performances and the latest (and perhaps greatest) comes in the form of Riz Ahmed’s stunning turn in Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal; an uncompromising look into one man’s journey to come to grips with hearing loss and how it affects those around him. Told with gritty realism and a commitment to presenting the deaf experience as accurately as possible, this is far from an easy watch but one that reveals as much about the human spirit and what it can achieve as it does the day-to-day lives of the deaf; who draw on that spirit to view their affliction not as a curse, but as something that makes them unique. With a similarly excellent performance from Olivia Cooke and next-level sound design that will have you believing you are experiencing the same things as protagonist Ruben, this is a brilliantly made and acted drama that demands your attention.
Ahmed plays Ruben, a recovering heroin addict and drummer for punk outfit Blackgammon alongside girlfriend Lou (Cooke). The pair live their lives touring dive bars and small venues from the RV they also live out of and it’s immediately clear that they share a history of drugs and violence. We understand the bond between Ruben and Lou at once; the commitment and understanding evident whilst playing on stage. This opening performance scene tells you all you need to know about the pair’s relationship with each other and music in general. It is their shared saviour and the thing that has brought them out of their tragic, arduous pasts; the central pillar of their lives that keeps them out of trouble. This single scene is so simple and effective in setting up the entire trajectory of the film; making it clear just how monumental the loss of hearing will be for Ruben. This is his way of life. You can feel his commitment to the beat, to hitting each note and how it draws him out of his troubles and into another world where he exists only with Lou.
The physical commitment from Ahmed and Cooke is also immediately recognisable, with both actors playing their own instruments (Cooke also does her own singing) and physically transforming into the punk duo with bleached hair and eyebrows. Cooke in particular looks almost unrecognisable and particular attention to detail has been paid to the story the duo’s physical appearance tells, with scars and tattoos informing us about their violent pasts without the need for verbalisation. Her performance is incredible. You can feel the love and fear for Ruben emanating from her through her eyes and facial expressions alone. There is clearly a strong backbone to Lou’s character and when the going gets tough for Ruben she doesn’t hesitate to act, encouraging him to join a deaf community as his hearing deteriorates.
This is where the real story takes shape. Ahmed is phenomenal at selling the overwhelming terror Ruben feels as his whole world crumbles around him; alternating between blind rage and denial; convinced his problem can be solved with the installation of Cochlear implants. There is an unsettling parallel made between Ruben’s past life of addiction to heroin and the increasingly desperate lengths he goes to to regain his hearing, made all the more terrifying by the mask of madness that engulfs Ahmed’s face as the film goes on, risking all that he has learnt for a shot at his former life. As Ruben ingratiates himself in the community, he strikes up a friendship with Joe (Paul Raci), who explains to him that he needs to accept deafness not as a handicap but as a blessing; to appreciate the quiet and stillness. Ruben slowly finds himself accepting his position, teaching deaf children music and becoming a central figure within the community, with Ahmed never failing to show the periodic frustration Ruben feels at a new situation he is encountering for the first time as a deaf person or the longing he feels for Lou, who has gone abroad to try to keep their musical momentum going.
Director Darius Marder has gone to painstaking lengths here to engulf audiences in the hearing-impaired experience and it shows, especially in the remarkable sound design. Sound fades in and out as we shift perspectives, voices become muffled and white noise dwindle to nothing as we enter the journey alongside Ruben, to the point where I was genuinely a little taken aback hearing sounds after being in that space for two hours. There are no big splashy scenes that go over the top with the sound design – or the acting for that matter – it is just consistently excellent across the board and the subtleness of it allows Marder to pull you into the experience better than if there were those big scenes that sometimes feel designed to attract award attention. Marder goes beyond the sound design to make the world feel as realistic and true-to-life as possible, showcasing ASL (American Sign Language) and other methods of communication prominently, something that will perhaps educate those unfamiliar with the deaf experience.
Sound of Metal is a gut-wrenching feature debut for Darius Marder. An unflinchingly real look into the journey of one man’s struggle to cope with total hearing loss is made all the better by a career-best performance from Riz Ahmed, channelling equal amounts of sadness, anger and desperation for his predicament. Aided by an equally enrapturing performance from Olivia Cooke and some truly breathtaking sound design, this is a film that relies on the strength of its characters and story to move you, rather than over-the-top performances or flashy effects, and it absolutely succeeds at drawing you into the world of those with hearing loss like no other film before it. It might not be the most accessible or easy film of the year to get into but once you are, you are all the way in, transfixed in absolute silence like the characters that inhabit the story until the very last frame.
Sound of Metal stars Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke & Paul Raci – Streaming on Amazon Prime now.