"The Sound Of Metal" Is The Most Underrated Film Of The 20's So Far

2020 will probably be the most bizarre cinematic year of my lifetime. With so much uncertainty surrounding the Covid 19 pandemic, studios couldn't wait to pull blockbuster tentpole movies from off the shelf. So many films were delayed as theatres around the country were closed down. We've heard so much about how this impacted theatres and big-budget cinema, but it also had a significant impact on smaller films. Many Oscar-caliber films were put directly to streaming services. It's been three years since we were at the heart of the pandemic. That's a long enough time to figure out which films may have fallen through the cracks during the free for all that was cinema in 2020. "The Sound Of Metal" is one of those hidden gems.

"The Sound Of Metal" was, in many ways, a successful film. It currently rocks a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and the film was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning 2 in the process. It was a critical darling, but the problem with critical darlings is that they often don't get mainstream attention. It's interesting how the passage of time can change one's opinion of a movie. I saw this film in late 2020 and enjoyed it. It was #6 on my top 10 list at the end of the year (2020 was not a good year for movies for a lot of reasons), but I enjoyed the performances and the technical elements. But on the car ride back from Omaha the other day, I started watching some clips and fell in love with this film. All the things about it that I liked the first time became amplified, and the elements I wasn't crazy about bothered me a lot less.

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This film is about a former drug addict slowly dealing with the fact that he's going deaf and goes to a rural shelter for addicts struggling with hearing loss. On a technical level, the film is highly immersive. It won the Academy Award for Best Editing and Best Sound, which makes sense. As a viewer, you get a real sense of what the main character Ruben is going through as he navigates these tricky waters. Many of the actors in the film are from the deaf community, which gives the movie a genuine sense of authenticity. The film is intentionally quiet, allowing its actors a lot of room to breathe. It pays off here, as all the performances are excellent.

Paul Raci is the heart of the film. He plays Joe, the man who runs the shelter that Ruben attends. He gives a marvelous performance, very deserving of the Academy Award nomination that he received. He clearly knows the right path for Ruben and is continually heartbroken when Ruben pushes back against him. But the true standout here is Riz Ahmed, who is fucking incredible in this movie. The filmmakers made a gutsy choice in the first half of this because the character of Ruben is not likable. He has a short temper, he continually talks back to his superiors at this shelter, and he constantly goes against the grain as he tries to save up enough money to help repair his hearing, which the entire community frowns upon. It takes a rare type of actor to pull off a role this difficult, but Ahmed nails it. 

I won't spoil anything, but this film has one of the best endings of the last decade. It's not some shocking twist, and it doesn't end on an overly emotional moment in which it's trying to go for the Oscar. It's one of those "Ooooooo, it all makes sense" now endings. Sometimes being subtle is the way to go. This movie knows that. The film is currently on Amazon Prime, and I recommend it to everyone, especially those of us who know someone deaf or struggling with addiction. There's an authenticity to it that so many films like it always seem to lack.