'Sound of Metal' movie review: Coming to terms with change

Director: Darius Marder

Cast: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke

Score: 3.5

Change is a strange thing. Some changes are small and leave no real imprint on one's life, while others can change everything a person has ever known about the world, their friends, and themselves.

This is the crux of Sound of Metal, a film that probably would not work if not for its use of sound and its protagonist, Ruben Stone. It may seem like a drama centred around disability, but it ultimately ends up being much more.

Ruben (Riz Ahmed) is a heavy metal drummer for a two-person band 'Blackgammon' with his girlfriend Louise (Olivia Cooke). A former drug addict, Ruben has dedicated his life to drumming, but change hits him like a truck when he loses his hearing near-completely.

Sound of Metal is an atypical film, in both its subject matter and how it presents it. It follows a clear goal for Ruben: To fix his hearing, but 'fixing' a colossal change like this will always leave a deep mark, which is something Ruben learns as he, coaxed by a concerned and desperate Louise, stays with a deaf community and works through the many stages of grief by interacting with people like him.

Riz Ahmed's portrayal of Ruben is one of the two cornerstones that drive the compelling storytelling of Sound of Metal, the other being the amazing sound design. He impeccably shows Ruben in several lights, from a generally apathetic-but-dedicated musician who wants nothing to do with deaf communities and wants his life back, to a Ruben who is gentle, peaceful and almost at terms with his new life.

Sound of Metal's sound design is also a noteworthy element as it takes us through Ruben's journey by showing us what he hears: Nothing. The eerie, painful silence permeates the entirety of Ruben's perspective, providing a genuine justification for his desire to return to his old life even as he adjusts to a life without sound, and a glimpse of the fear he has of losing Louise, who he is shown to love dearly.

To close, Sound of Metal is a quiet lesson on what 'change' can bring to a person's life, without any layer of sugar-coating or sweet-talking.