The film begins with Ruben and Lou, who are both bandmates and lovers, playing a set of noise-metal music. They are traveling from state to state, performing in various places. They live in a camper on the road, portraying a healthy and loving relationship, both passionate about their music.
Ruben takes notice that his hearing temporarily goes out. He brushes the concern off.
During his set that there is something wrong with his hearing. The next day, he cannot hear anything around him. The objects that he heard the day before are no longer audible.
Ruben visits the doctor where he takes hearing tests to see what level of deafness he is at. The doctor informs him of the information that he has collected, and unable to give up hope, Ruben asks for options. The doctors have to break it to Ruben that he will rapidly become deaf and the most crucial thing that Ruben should do is preserve the hearing that he has now.
Ruben has a panic attack during his set and storms off. Lou runs behind him with concern and he finally lets Lou know what is going on with him.
Lou, concerned for Ruben’s mental state and being a former addict to heroin, calls his sponsor. They then drive to a deaf community where he can receive help with his sobriety and his loss of hearing. There, he meets Joe. He expresses to Lou that in order for this to benefit Ruben during this hard time, they would need to separate for a while.
Back home, Ruben, in denial, tells Lou that he wants to go back on tour until he has the money to get surgery for his hearing. Ruben attempts to comfort Lou, but Lou is just concerned.
Ruben is frustrated and angry about his condition he destroys his music gear. This is showing the stage of anger. Lou then writes down on paper that he needs support right now but Ruben thinks he can keep going without the deaf community. Lou then gets a call and the scene ends with Lou stating that he is getting on a plane and is going back to the deaf community.
Ruben is desperate for another plan but Lou already decided for him that the best option for him is to go back to the deaf community. Ruben is distressed when he sees Lou packing up her belongings and asks her to wait for him seeing that he cannot let her go and lose her forever. He asks her to write to him so he knows she is okay.
Ruben gets to the deaf community and introduces himself to the others.
In this scene, Ruben is having dinner with the community. The director intentionally “shows” how in Ruben’s headspace, his surroundings are quiet. However, once the camera is off Ruben, we hear the sounds of the others banging on the table to express themselves using sign language or just to create vibration. The audience can also hear the clanking of silverware touching plates.
Ruben’s job now is to learn how to be deaf and learn sign language. Ruben still uses his voice with the deaf community and is still having a hard time accepting his fate. The audio in some scenes turns to white noise, then to noises around.
Joe sees Ruben fixing the roof, but Joe rejects his help. Joe expresses to Ruben that he does not need to do anything or fix anything. Joe then tells Ruben that he will get him his own room and that his job now is to sit and write whenever he feels stuck. This will allow him to practice stillness and vulnerability. Ruben enters this room alone and there he becomes volatile, and helpless.
Ruben befriends a student that goes to school within the community. The student bangs on the iron slide, satisfied with the vibrations. The audio sounds distant, but still there. Ruben being a drummer, bangs on the slide creating a greater sound. The director shows this scene to demonstrate how in Ruben’s head there may not be a loud sound, but outside of his head, the sound is very much present. This is something that Ruben still has not grasped just yet.
Ruben is progressively getting better at communicating using his hands and is now smiling. He is on the road to acceptance. He begins to write his thoughts down on paper and enjoys the student's presence by teaching them how to drum. This image shows where the community resides, indicating that this place represents solitude, nature (white noise, birds chirping, wind, etc), and overall Ruben’s state of mind and environment.
When Ruben sees Lou on the internet performing with minimal equipment, Ruben is desperate to help her financially. He sells his drum equipment and the camper to get his surgery in hopes that he can go back to Lou and save his life. He leaves a note to Joe and exits the deaf community. He returns and asks Joe for money for his camper back. Joe expresses that he is concerned for his state and asks Ruben to leave the community seeing as he violated his trust.
Ruben returns to the doctor four weeks after his surgery and is relieved to hear something. However, he is quickly disappointed when his hearing is not the same as it was before. He realizes then that it will never be the same and this is a moment of revelation for him.
When Ruben finally visits Lou in Paris where she is now living with her father and looks a lot different. He attends a party that is being hosted at their home. He struggles to mingle with others that are not deaf. In this scene, the audio is clear and sound, it then distorts to what Ruben hears, which is static noise and it is apparent that it irritates Ruben.
Lou in the past used to scratch herself, a form of self-harm, when she felt a level of anxiety. Since she has parted with Ruben, she no longer does it. However, when Ruben returns and expresses the excitement of going back on tour, she becomes anxious and starts to scratch herself. Ruben then realizes this, and they hung in silence, indicating that their lives are different now and this is the ending of their journey together.
In this last scene, the audio/surroundings of Paris are loud and blaring. The heavy traffic on the street, people talking, church bells, and city life affect Ruben in a negative way. He sits down at a park bench taking this all in and then detaches his hearing aid. Once it is detached the audio in this scene goes silent and still. The last scene is Ruben closing his eyes, accepting this new way of life, and solitude. This is a representation of what Joe has been talking about, sitting still in silence.
In Sound of Metal, a tale of sound, fury, and self-discovery, delivers an intensely committed performance as the volatile Ruben, who has found a new purpose as a drummer in a noise-metal duo, playing blistering live shows with his singer girlfriend, Lou. When Ruben abruptly loses much of his hearing, he embarks on a dramatic voyage through denial, rage, sadness, and, eventually, acceptance. He learns what it means to live as a deaf person and discovers deafness as a rich culture and community rather than a handicap. Director Darius Marder enables us to explore the universe through astonishingly immersive, Academy Award-winning sound design, creating a musical spectrum in which quiet comes in a thousand colors.
“Sound of Metal”
5 words: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.
Thesis statement:
The storyline follows a man who is going through the stages of grief once he has learned that he will rapidly become deaf, quickly having to adapt to his new way of life.
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