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Movies & TV

12th Apr 2021

Six-time Oscar-nominated drama Sound Of Metal is available to watch at home right now

Rory Cashin

Originally due for release in cinemas in August 2020, the powerful music drama has finally arrived.

Out of the 2021 Best Picture nominees, many of them are already available to watch at home.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Mank are both on Netflix, Judas and the Black Messiah and Minari are both available on PVOD platforms, Nomadland is coming to Disney+ later in April, and Promising Young Woman arriving on NOW later in April, too.

Of those remaining, The Father is currently scheduled to arrive in Irish cinemas once they’ve safely reopened, but Sound Of Metal is now available to watch at home.

On top of being nominated for Best Picture, the movie is also up for Best Leading Actor (for Riz Ahmed), Best Supporting Actor (for Paul Raci), Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Screenplay.

The movie tells the story of a heavy-metal drummer’s (Ahmed) life that is thrown into freefall when he begins to lose his hearing. Angry and in denial of his new circumstances, he tries to accept the assistance of the leader (Raci) of a small deaf community who tries to show him that being deaf isn’t the life sentence he believes it to be.

It was originally due for release in cinemas in August 2020, but plans were changed due to the pandemic. However, the critics who did get to see it in the run-up to its awards push were overflowing with praise for the movie:

IndieWire – A mesmerising debut … Sound of Metal injects visceral, edgy circumstances with remarkable sensitivity.”

FilmThreat – “Here’s a film so quietly visceral it can sear through metal, ‘quietly’ being the keyword. Don’t come in expecting a no-holds-barred assault on the senses. Nor is this a metal music extravaganza. The bulk of the film is silent, deliberate. We are thrust inside Ruben’s mind to hear what he hears, a pulsating, muted nothing, which is then jarringly contrasted with everyday sounds when we’re yanked back out of his head. The sound mixing and editing are nothing short of phenomenal in Sound of Metal.”

Screen Daily – “This remarkably assured debut … uses the medium of cinema to its fullest extent, both visually and aurally.”

The Globe and Mail – “A movie perfectly engineered for home viewing. Particularly with the best set of headphones that you own.”

Sound Of Metal is available to watch right now via Prime Video.

Clip via Prime Video

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