I was continually reminded of Children of a Lesser God while watching this. That movie from the 80's had William Hurt, showing warmth for once, and a really fine performance from Marlee Matlin as a deaf girl; it is much preferable to this well meaning but confused story about a heavy metal drummer who loses his hearing. The second act, at the deaf school, is full of platitudes about what deafness means. I shook my head when the director told Ruben to sit down and write every morning, even if he couldn't stand to do so. And Ruben of course hates the very idea of putting pen to paper--if it were me I'd feel greatly relieved at the chance for self expession. It only remains to say that there is no chemistry between Riz Ahmed and Olivia Cooke.
Review of Sound of Metal
