Sound Of My Voice

Synopsis: Wannabe investigative documentarians Peter and Lorna (Christopher Denham and Nicole Vicius) infiltrate the cult run by Maggie (Brit Marling), a woman who claims to be from the future. The further they immerse themselves, the more their relationship is tested as Peter shows signs of becoming a believer.

You have to hand it to Brit Marling, when Hollywood failed to come knocking at her door, she just knocked a hole in the wall and went in anyway. And with two solid performances under her belt, she’s proven herself to be an actress to watch. But I’m not so convinced about her writing (she co-wrote the screenplay with the director). Sound Of My Voice is the second film I’ve seen her in, the first being the fairly strong Another Earth. Both suffer the same problem, exceptional performances undercut by writing that isn’t quite all there. But there’s no denying Marling is an arresting screen presence and her turn here lets her explore a whole different set of emotions and behaviours to the ones she played with in Another Earth.

The story itself is quite clever, with a young couple full of broken dreams chasing their “big chance” as they try to make an exposé of a cult so secretive that barely anyone knows of its existence. The fact that Maggie’s carer/henchman Klaus is actually Steve Jobs is just a bonus (I kid, but it’s creepy how much Richard Wharton looks like him here. It really does add a visual subtext given Jobs’ famed ability to convince people that white was black). Watching Peter and Lorna struggle to keep it together as they go deeper into the cult makes for some wonderfully tense scenes, the best of which comes when Peter is forced to face the demons of his past. But once that scene is done, up come problems with the writing.

Marling and Batmanglij want to have it both ways. Rather than straddle the line in ambiguity over Maggie’s credibility, they have a more unusual approach. They make it incredibly clear that she is a fraud. Then make it equally clear she’s the real deal. The assumption is that this will create doubt, but I’m not so sure that’s correct. There’s no real excuse for why she isn’t for real given that the evidence we see, whilst there’s an outside chance that the reasons she appears fraudulent aren’t true. If both had been ellipsed somehow, rather than thrown in our faces, it might have been more effective in raising doubt. But here’s where I’m stuck, because it’s such a bold move I occasionally wonder if I missed something rather than picked up on a flaw in the presentation. I’m fairly confident of my own view, but I may be wrong.

In the end, Sound Of My Voice is much like Another Earth - a well acted film with some interesting concepts and a few excellent emotional set-pieces. I’ve heard that it’s intended as the first part of a trilogy, and I’d be keen to see the other two parts made. For all my quibbles about writing tricks and technique, I found it to be an engaging experience which I’d happily continue.

 

 

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