Tell me a story

Viewed on December 15, 2012 on Netflix DVD

Such an interesting premise. A couple successfully manages to get themselves ingratiated with a cult, their goal to create a documentary that exposes the leader as a fraud. The cult is led by a twenty-something year old Maggie (played by Brit Marling). Maggie claims to be from the year 2054 where there is a civil war going on. She’s back in the past for reasons unknown.

Peter (played by Christopher Denham, who at times resembles Joel McHale) is the one driving this undercover exposé . He has, we learn,  unresolved issues with his mother who joined a cult when he was young. When Lorna (played by Nicole Vicius, who does not look at all like Joel McHale) thinks they should abandon the project, he convinces her to stay. He’s a man with a vendetta that he needs to see through. But then as they get deeper and deeper in, is Peter maybe starting to believe Maggie’s stories? By the end we’re not so sure.

And that’s kind of where the movie falls apart: the end. It doesn’t so much end as cuts off. It’s so abrupt that I think most viewers will be frustrated by it. There are so many questions left unanswered. I’m not at all saying things need be neatly resolved in a movie. In fact I like it if a movie can induce fun speculation after it’s over–think Inception–but I do like there to be some resolution. Sound of My Voice introduced a lot of questions and mysterious elements and then just left them dangling, seemingly without purpose (I’m thinking black legos and creepy parents in particular). I suppose Peter’s main conflict is more or less resolved, but it’s not satisfying at all.

Still I’d recommend it because I did enjoy it right up until the end, and maybe you won’t feel as let down by the ending as I did. But don’t count on it.

My Rating:

Sound of My Voice
Director:Zal Batmanglij
Writer: Brit Marling (Another Earth)and Zal Batmanglij