Written by Darius Marder and Abraham Marder
Directed By Darius Marder
Starring Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci and Mathieu Amalric
Running Time: 2 hours and 10 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout and brief nude images

by Ian Hrabe

The phrase “Starring Riz Ahmed” should be movie code for “just watch this damn movie it’s gonna be great.” Ahmed has basically been must see kino since his breakout performance in the 2010 British terrorist comedy Four Lions, and he broke out stateside as Jake Gyllenhaal’s lackey in 2014’s Nightcrawler.  Since then, he has starred in the HBO miniseries The Night Of, done turns in blockbusters like Star Wars: Rogue One and Venom, and with Sound of Metal Ahmed delivers a truly virtuosic lead performance that argues the case why he should be a megastar. Sure, there are other actors in Sound of Metal, but this is the Riz Ahmed show and it’s why I can’t recommend this enough.

In Sound of Metal Riz Ahmed plays Ruben Stone, a heavy metal drummer who suddenly loses his hearing while out on tour with his bandmate and girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke). His whole life is thrown into disarray and, as a recovering addict at risk of relapsing into addiction due to the stress of the situation, goes to stay at a deaf community for those in recovery at the urging of Lou and his sponsor. Joe (Paul Raci), who oversees the community and the group’s AA meetings, shepherds Ruben into his new life as a deaf man. Ahmed portrays this as an absolute struggle, full of rage, denial, bargaining and all the hallmarks of grief. Though he could have a cochlear implant installed, the price is out of reach and Ruben learning to accept his new life serves as the film’s powerful emotional core.

While Ahmed’s performance is brilliantly layered and multifaceted, Darius Marder’s filmmaking is just as phenomenal. It’s shocking that this is his debut feature, but considering that he worked with Derek Cianfrance on the script for his 2013 film The Place Beyond the Pines (Cianfrance also contributed to Sound of Metal’s story), perhaps Marder’s directorial talent shouldn’t have been entirely unexpected. Like Cianfrance, Marder goes for gritty emotional realism at a leisurely pace that really lets you live with the characters. The cast is primarily composed of deaf and hard of hearing actors, and that choice both gives the film great marks for inclusivity and awareness, but gives the film an authenticity that pushes it to the next level. Paul Raci is particularly excellent, and though he is not deaf, he is the child of deaf parents, a certified sign language instructor, and fronts a band that performs in ASL. He’s a revelation here, and his scenes with Ahmed are some of the film’s most intensely emotional.

The film’s sound design is remarkable as well, and Marder goes to great lengths to put us inside Ruben’s head. Frequently we hear what he is hearing. We hear the muted sounds and muffled speaking and, paired with Riz Ahmed’s performance, we connect. When Ruben attends his first AA meeting at the deaf community, none of the sign language used by the other attendees is subtitled. It’s a small detail in a film full of small details that combine to make a powerful story about handling a life changing situation when the world seems to be throwing everything it has at you. It’s about being dragged kicking and screaming into a sort of forced evolution, and learning to live with that. 

Sound of Metal is available to watch December 4 on Amazon Prime.