MUSIC WAS HIS WORLD. THEN SILENCE REVEALED A NEW ONE. 

When metal drummer Ruben Stone (Riz Ahmed) suddenly loses most of his hearing, he reluctantly agrees to join a group of deaf recovering addicts. The director’s first fiction feature film was not based on an actual case, but reality still seeps into the story in the shape of the relationship between the drummer and his singer girlfriend (inspired by the band Jucifer) and how the deaf community is depicted. The way we share Ruben’s sudden and very tangible loss of hearing is harrowing and Ahmed brilliantly conveys his character’s torment. Paul Raci is another stand-out in the cast as the no-nonsense Vietnam War veteran who becomes Ruben’s mentor.

2020-U.S. 120 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Sacha Ben Harroche, Bill Benz, Kathy Benz, Bert Hamelinck. Directed by Darius Marder. Screenplay: Darius Marder, Abraham Marder. Editing: Mikkel E.G. Nielsen. Cast: Riz Ahmed (Ruben Stone), Olivia Cooke (Lou Berger), Paul Raci (Joe), Lauren Ridloff, Mathieu Amalric, Chelsea Lee.

Trivia: Co-executive produced by Derek Cianfrance, who also worked on the story. 

Oscars: Best Film Editing, Sound. BAFTA: Best Editing, Sound.

Last word: “I always knew that I wouldn’t be representing the deaf community or deaf culture or the hard of hearing community. I knew that they would be representing themselves and would gift that to the film. Maybe that’s because of my documentary background but I think it’s just a matter of respect. Everything that you see in the world of deaf culture really comes from deaf culture. Jeremy Stone, who plays the ASL teacher and who was also Riz’s teacher, was also my creative assistant. I really gave him a lot of freedom to direct deaf actors with a level of nuance that I couldn’t possibly understand or have, even to the point where people on my set were surprised and alarmed at how much freedom I was giving him.” (Darius Marder, Collider)

IMDb