Sound of Metal

Verdict

A deeply immersive drama that turns hearing loss, addiction recovery, and identity crisis into something tactile and emotionally precise. It’s especially strong for viewers who value performance-driven storytelling, sound design as narrative, and endings that feel earned rather than engineered.

Best for

• fans of intimate character studies
• viewers interested in disability representation
• people who appreciate innovative sound design
• audiences drawn to recovery and redemption stories
• fans of restrained, emotionally honest dramas

Skip if

• you want a conventional music-industry rise-and-fall story
• you prefer fast-paced plots with lots of external conflict
• you’re looking for a feel-good inspirational movie
• you dislike ambiguous, quietly devastating endings

Overview

Sound of Metal is one of those films where the form and the feeling are inseparable. Ruben’s world doesn’t just change in the story; it changes in the way the movie lets you hear, or not hear, what he hears. That makes his panic, denial, and eventual acceptance feel immediate rather than symbolic.

Worth noting

Riz Ahmed gives a remarkably controlled performance, full of frustration, shame, and stubbornness without ever tipping into melodrama. The film is also unusually thoughtful about community: it doesn’t treat deafness as a problem to be solved, but as a lived reality with its own culture, rhythms, and dignity.

Bottom line

What lingers most is how unsentimental the movie is about healing. It resists easy catharsis, yet still finds grace in adaptation, patience, and the possibility of a different kind of life. It’s a painful film, but not a hopeless one.

Top Letterboxd reviews

carter (5★) · 23772 likes

I don’t think I can remember a time where I didn’t hear it. The ringing. The noise nobody but me could seem to hear. I couldn’t stand it. I had no idea what it was at first, but it was loud, and it was getting louder. I told myself it would just go away, but even back then I don’t think I believed myself. When I was nine it got worse, I was having hearing problems, so I told my… more

David Chen (4.5★) · 14760 likes

There's a moment about 10 minutes into this film when Ruben (Riz Ahmed) is at a hearing specialist's office. The specialist is explaining to him that the majority of his hearing is gone, and all his efforts at the moment should be dedicated to preserving what's left. The film smash cuts to Ruben performing at another metal concert that very night, seemingly disregarding the specialist's advice. It's a stunning depiction of that innate human desire to maintain normality -- to… more

Lucy (4.5★) · 9484 likes

AFI 2020: film #5 "today is not a good day” one of the most devastating parts of life is not being able to get back to a happiness you once had, especially if it involves people you love. feeling that joy slipping through your fingers, time cannot rewind and only moves forward, and without your consent. relentlessly, painfully. adapt or die. this is a crushing look at that fight against time and change, but it's also hopeful, and eventually peaceful. the sound design was incredible and the hardcoded subtitles were such a smart move. one of the most essential and fitting movies of 2020

Muriel · 7241 likes

everyone already knows how hard both the sound design and riz ahmed’s performance fuck so i’m just going to say this: olivia cooke’s bleached eyebrows

Syaoran (4★) · 6901 likes

The ending of this film is so authentic and impactful. I could not ask for a better one.

Themes

hearing loss, deaf culture, addiction recovery, identity crisis, acceptance, grief, adaptation, intimacy

Topics

drama, music, sound design, disability, recovery, grief, identity, independent film, emotional, contemporary