Sound Of My Voice DVD Review

Director: Zal Batmanglij

Starring: Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius, Brit Marling, Richard Wharton

Running Time: 81 minutes

Certificate: 15

Extras: None

The nature of cult is divisive: some embrace, whilst others vehemently oppose. SOUND OF MY VOICE uses that as it’s base whilst looking at one of humanity’s weaknesses – preconception.

Peter (Denham) and girlfriend Lorna (Vicius) are investigative journalists looking into an apparent cult lead by a lady from the future. The deeper they get, the more entranced the pair become by leader Maggie’s (Marling) story and her promise of a better life begins to appeal.

Your appreciation of SOUND OF MY VOICE will depend on your view towards cult: those against will climb aboard their high horse way before the halfway mark, whereas those open will find much to enjoy. At the centre of the movie are three sympathetic and believable performances from Denham, Vicius, and Marling – each strongly representing the different viewpoints laid out in Marling and director Batmanglij script. The low budget means production design and costumes are basic, so the film requires their screenplay to be it’s strongest aspect and the surprising subtlety ensure it succeeds.

Those that missed ANOTHER EARTH – Marling’s other 2011 outing – could be forgiven for passing SOUND OF MY VOICE by; whilst it may not have the scope of EYES WIDE SHUT or the incendiary imagery of FIGHT CLUB it is better at questioning cult than both. The praise may seem extravagant but a cult movie must make the audience ask ‘what would I do?’ and the end to SOUND OF MY VOICE will certainly do that.

SOUND OF MY VOICE is released on DVD and Blu-ray 26th November.