Sound of Metal

Sound of Metal is the kind of low-budget movie that knows exactly how to promote self-acceptance, and it does so via the story of a man who lives a nomadic band lifestyle until he must adjust to his permanent hearing loss. Riz Ahmed plays this role to absolute perfection as he captures the frustration behind the man’s unfortunate predicament, while Paul Raci, who in real life is a child of deaf adults, plays his new mentor, and a cast of deaf actors plays the members of the Deaf community. There’s a great understanding of this community, that these sorts of people don’t despise their condition, but rather recognize the benefits that it offers.
​
To further demonstrate the eye-level approach that director Darius Marder took with the Deaf community, he along with cinematographer Daniël Bouquet effectively frames the ASL communication as the sound design masterfully depicts what the world sounds like to a deaf person. It’s not like the loud concert scenes shown toward the start of the movie, the overall experience results in a careful meditation about the power of noise. It speaks directly to the minority group in focus and makes it accessible for both them and Hearing people to understand. It’s a celebration of Deaf culture while also a work of art that begs those with hearing to question, “If this happened to me, what would I do about it?”

R (DLSN​)
Drama
2 hr.

Watch it to THINK.
​Watch it to feel SAD.