One of the first things you'll notice when watching Sound of Metal, whether in theaters or on Amazon Prime, is that closed captioning is built into the film and can't be turned off. There's multiple good reasons for this. Most immediately, it signals this is not simply a movie about the Deaf/hard of hearing community, but a movie that's specifically trying to be accessible and enjoyable to said community. As the movie progresses, it becomes clear the captions are also to hearing viewers' benefit as well, clarifying increasingly unintelligible bits of dialogue as drummer Ruben Stone (Riz Ahmed) loses his hearing and eventually translating sign language once Ruben himself starts understanding ASL.
It will absolutely be interesting reading commentary on this movie from deaf viewers as more reviews come in. For hearing viewers, Sound of Metal feels particularly insightful in large part due to its sound design. The movie drifts effortlessly back and forth between loud clarity and a more subjective experience from the perspective of Ruben's deteriorating hearing. Without giving away spoilers, the film's final act uses sound in a way perhaps no other movie has attempted and proves particularly impactful. It's hard to imagine anything more deserving of the Sound Mixing/Editing Oscars this year.
Riz Ahmed should definitely be in awards consideration as well. The Rogue One star learned both drumming and ASL for the part! His character quit heroin four years ago when he fell in love and started playing music with Lou (Olivia Cooke), but he's still struggling with the psychology of addiction, and his journey from rage to self-acceptance is powerful. Ahmed, of course, isn't deaf, but all the other deaf characters in the movie are played either deaf actors (Lauren Ridloff, future Eternals star, stands out as sign language teacher Diane) or actors with a personal connection to the Deaf community (Paul Raci, who plays Ruben's new mentor Joe, is the hearing child of deaf parents and works as an interpreter).
Sound of Metal is Darius Marder's directorial debut, loosely based on characters from an unreleased documentary, Metalhead, directed by his regular collaborator Derek Cianfrance (the two previously co-wrote The Place Beyond the Pines). It's an extremely well-structured and consistently interesting debut film, never wasting too much time on any particular plot point and concluding with the only possible appropriate ending for this story.
Sound of Metal stars Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff and Mathieu Amalric. It premieres November 20 in theaters and on December 4 on Amazon Prime.