Despite Paul Mescal & Josh O’Connor’s Stellar Chemistry, This Wartime Drama is More Sedated than Sexy – ryan

The history of sound

May have been one of the Most hotly anticipated cannes premieres and i’m sura many hoped it would be one of the hottest movies, what with two preminent boyfriends starring as lovers. IT’S NOT AS STEAMY AS ONE WOULD HOPE – THose Familiar with the work of director oliver hermanus probably saw that coming. Instead, IT’S a poignant meditation on the power of Music, as CORNY as that Might Sound.

butt The history of sound is not corny. It ‘Thoughtsful and quietly devastating. In its insistence to buck conventions of the Queer drama, though, it inevitably false some of the very traps it hopes to avoid, landing somewhere between expectations and the underwhelming it flirts with Becoming.

The story of Sound is Strongest When Conveying the Impact of a Relationship

The history of sound is based on the short story of the same name by ben Shattuck, who also adapted his story for the Screen. In stretching this story Out Over Two Hours, The history of sound Threatens to break under the weight of its. IT FOLLOW LIONEL WORATINGTON (PAUL MASCAL), A Young Boy from Kentucky Who, on the Cusp of World War I, Leaves His Family Farm to Study Music in Boston. There, he Meets David (Josh O’Connor), a fellow students more interested in the preservation and impact of music than performance. Upon Meeting, The Pair Fall into a Situation, to put it in modern terms.

We are meant to assume their Relationship is intense, but brief. Hermanus doesn’t linger too on the particles of their falling into bed, instead skipping around in time. It ‘s shame, as the midcal and o’connor have good chemistry, and Investing in the Relationship Early Could’ve Helped the Film Achieve the Emotional Heights it Reaches for Later on.

Though they must part be david is drafted for the war, they reunite for a tripro acres rural new England, where lionel accompanies his lover as they record folk songs of the region.

The history of sound Has a deep underestanding of the Ways in Which a brief Relationship like the one between and david can have a Lasting Effect. It ‘s dyscount what such a short time can really mean to someone, but those doesn’t matter IF, days, months, or years. The right person Can Change a Life and Leave a Mark.

Mescal Communicates This Beautifully, Carrying A Quiet Sadness Through the dim Lionel and David Part Ways for Good. It affects every facet of His Life, from the Jobs he taxes (Lionel Goes to Sing Only After David Suggests and the Relationships He Gets Involved in (Lionel is flighty as can be, as if by refusing to anyone else, it might mare to david to david to david and when they Reunite).

Like the haunting songs that soundtrack the film, david is the ghost hovering over this film. O’Connor does brief but effective work here, his smile lingering over the events like it lingers in lionel’s mind. Because of this, The history of sound is a much more muted affair, steeped in sadness Rather than the ecstasy of love. That doesn’t sap the film of all of it Its Power – The Ending Still Hits Like a Gut Punch, Especilly As Hermanus Back a Key Song That We Haven’t Heard the Beginning of the Film – But the Director of Towards a More Understated Makes This Drama Morely SEXY.

The history of sound Premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

The history of sound

7/10

Release Date

January 14, 2026

Runtime

127 minutes

Directory

Oliver Hermanus

Wriers

Ben Shattuck, Oliver Hermanus

Producers

Tim Haslam, Andrea Roa, Thérèsa Ryan, Sara Murphy, Andrew Korschak, Lisa Couffetti