Some might not enjoy metal as a music genre. It’s loud, brash, and often very fast. To someone who isn’t a fan, it can sound almost like an explosion of sound. But no matter what you feel about the genre, it’s hard to deny that the musicianship is pretty incredible, with drummers, in particular, having to keep a frantic pace to provide the backbone of a song. But in “Sound of Metal,” one drummer must cope with the idea that he can no longer perform due to something out of his control.
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As seen in the trailer for Amazon’s upcoming film, “Sound of Metal” takes a look at the life of a metal drummer that discovers he is rapidly losing his ability to hear. And as you might expect, this is not the news he wanted to learn, as his entire life has been built around the idea of him hearing and performing music.
Riz Ahmed leads the cast, which also includes Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, Shaheem Sanchez, Chelsea Lee, Jeremy Stone, and Mathieu Amalric. The film is directed by Darius Marder, who co-wrote the feature with Abraham Marder.
We saw the film when it debuted as part of last year’s TIFF. In our review, we said, “Marder believes devoutly in the power of actors and acting, preferring to get out of the way and let them show their stuff. Ahmed returns the favor by delivering career-best work by a wide margin, letting out all his ferocity and vulnerability as if from a freshly lanced boil.”
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Here’s the synopsis:
During a series of adrenaline-fueled one-night gigs, itinerant punk-metal drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) begins to experience intermittent hearing loss. When a specialist tells him his condition will rapidly worsen, he thinks his music career — and with it his life — is over. His bandmate and girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke) checks the recovering heroin addict into a secluded sober house for the deaf in hopes it will prevent a relapse and help him learn to adapt to his new situation. But after being welcomed into a community that accepts him just as he is, Ruben has to choose between his equilibrium and the drive to reclaim the life he once knew. Utilizing startling, innovative sound design techniques, director Darius Marder takes audiences inside Ruben’s experience to vividly recreate his journey into a rarely examined world.
The film is set to arrive in select theaters on November 20 and on Prime Video on December 4. You can watch the new trailer below.