Review: Sound of Metal

Sound of Metal, directed by Darius Marder, tells the tale of Ruben Stone (Riz Ahmed), a heavy metal drummer who’s part of a duo band alongside the singer and his girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke). Things seem to be going well for the two until one day Ruben suddenly loses his hearing and becomes deaf. Wanting to go back into touring, Ruben goes to extreme lengths to regain his hearing with the looming reality of living as a deaf person casting over him.

One of the things I love about watching indie films is that you almost never know what to expect going in, especially when you avoid trailers or promo surrounding said film. With big named blockbusters or even with huge awards centered films you always seem to get an idea of what to expect with them; you’re either going in to turn off your brain and enjoy the ride, go in for some pretty imagery, see a bunch of big named actors acting their little hearts out, etc.

This film I went in completely blind outside of the fact that everyone who has seen it loved it, and quite frankly I really enjoyed it too. Sound of Metal is more than an Oscar commercial for Riz Ahmed, this is a genuinely interesting character study that’s very well made and presented to boot.

The big draw to this film is most certainly Riz Ahmed’s performance, as he really does dominate every scene he’s in. There’s a very special level of attention to detail in Ahmed’s performance. You genuinely believe he’s deaf, as he does some creative nuances to convey his loss of hearing to us. His performance is subtle when it needs to be and explosive at the right moments; this is by far one of the best performances of the year for sure.

Olivia Cooke also does a great job in the film in the few scenes she’s in, I really like how the majority of the cast is actually deaf and all of them felt natural in the film, and Paul Raci in particular gives a fantastic performance among the film’s supporting cast. The film’s sound design was unique for the purposes of the film, going through different filters to simulate Ruben’s hearing throughout the film, the direction was solid, the editing was tight, and the cinematography maintained a natural look throughout.

If there is one thing that bothered me about this film it would probably be the sequence of events that happens here. The film does feel aimless at times, with several scenes feeling repetitive and drawn out. The film starts out strong but kind of fizzles out around the third act. But other than that the rest of the film is pretty solid as a whole.

Overall this is a great film to check out if you have an Amazon Prime account if anything for Riz Ahmed’s performance alone. Although Ahmed is the selling point here there’s a lot more to appreciate on their own, and this film is definitely one of the more memorable films to come out this year in a year that’s pretty lacking as a result of the pandemic. There’s not much else to say other than check this film out and see for yourself.

Final Verdict: 9/10