‘Sound of Metal’ Review: When the Music Stops, the Healing Begins

Propelled by a particular model and a potent lead efficiency, Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal” builds a singular pressure between silence and noise.

For Ruben (Riz Ahmed), the drummer in a punk-metal band, the decibel stage of his music appears a nice substitute for his former heroin behavior. When, with out warning, his listening to drastically diminishes, Ruben panics; to protect his sobriety and please his girlfriend and bandmate (Olivia Cooke), he enrolls in a distant commune for recovering deaf addicts run by Joe (Paul Raci), a serene Vietnam veteran. An atheist in a “Let go, and let God” world, Ruben struggles to settle, and Ahmed (who discovered American Sign Language for the position) performs him with a tweaking urgency that’s poignantly credible — he’s a research in misery.

Without leaping too strenuously into the ideological divide between those that view deafness as an id and people who deem it a correctable drawback, “Sound of Metal” nonetheless means that Ruben’s salvation lies solely in acceptance of his situation. And when, determined to reclaim his former life and love, Ruben units his sights on costly cochlear implants, the movie feels too desperate to penalize him for his alternative.

“You don’t need to fix anything here,” Joe tells Ruben at one level when he tries to fix the roof, the allusion all too clear.

Though underwritten and dramatically muted, this uncommon film diverts with a very intricate sound design that permits us to borrow Ruben’s ears. From the sonic assault of his music to the hisses and crackles of his newly implanted gadgets — like an imperfectly tuned radio station — what Ruben hears appears as vague as his future.

Sound of Metal
Rated R for tasteful cuddling and some unhealthy phrases. Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes. In theaters. Please seek the advice of the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier than watching films inside theaters.