Sound of My Voice (2012)

The 2011 Sundance Film Festival is famous for two things: a lot of films about cults, and the introduction of Brit Marling into the independent film world. The dramatic thriller Sound of My Voice, one of the two films at that festival she both co-wrote and starred in, conveniently combines the two. The other film was Another Earth—which I mostly loved—and while Sound of My Voice features a different director and cast, you can still feel her voice at work. Both films are entrancing human stories that incorporate a select few sci-fi elements, but Sound of My Voice’s long-term impact is ultimately hampered by a lack of convincing thematic depth. Another Earth was more about fate and regret than it was about the fact that there was another giant planet in the sky. While it’s a thrilling watch, Sound of My Voice is never quite able to be about anything more than its central mystery, which ultimately isn’t quite interesting enough.

Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius) are a young couple looking to make a hidden camera documentary about the mysterious Maggie (Marling) and the cult she’s running in a strange basement. Maggie claims to be from the future, and she uses her apparent knowledge of what is to come to seduce a small group of people into joining their cause. It is unclear exactly what her long term goal is—and we’re hardly talking an army of thousands here—but she is clearly having an effect on her followers. There are plenty of holes in her argument, of course. For one: it’s in-freaking-sane. Two: her so-called evidence is occasionally flimsy, like in one moment when she sings an apparent future song, but it’s actually by the Cranberries. However, there are enough moments that cause Peter and Lorna to question what they’re seeing. It’s probably coincidence, sure, but what about when the coincidence is too strange to ignore?

There’s no doubt Maggie is a charismatic and beautiful leader. Along with her right-hand man Klaus (Richard Wharton), she makes her followers wash up, change into generic white clothing, and listen to her speak throughout the night. Sometimes there will be group activities, such as eating an apple and then throwing it up. It’s admittedly strange, but one can see how Maggie was able to win all these people over. Despite the occasional holes in her background she has been able to craft a reasonable enough story about where she comes from and what she feels she is meant to do. An oxygen tank is never far from her side, and she refuses to go outside. Her talks and lessons are obviously well thought-out, and she is even able to convince skeptics Peter and Lorna that something… strange is obviously going on.

If Sound of My Voice is at all compelling—and it is—it’s wholly because of Marling’s magnetic performance. Denham and Vicius assert themselves relatively well as the outsiders looking in, but their characters never give them a chance to become half the presence that Marling is. She is the sun that all others rotate around, and as a result she completely takes over the film when she’s onscreen. Ultimately that’s for the better, because without her the film would lose most of its reason to exist. The direction by Zal Batmanglij is also quite competent without ever being stellar; there are moments that stick with you but even he falls victim to Marling’s magnetic presence. I could certainly do without the film separating itself into arbitrary chapters, but that’s a quibble if there ever was one.

The movie might also be a little too short, which is a complaint I rarely make. (In fact, I try not to complain about running time at all. But there are exceptions.) It’s so focused on pushing everything forward that when the ending finally comes it feels a tad abrupt. I appreciate what the final scene is going for, and it’s captivating while it lasts, but it feels like it’s trying to rush us out the door before we get a chance to process anything. It’s not the lack of closure that bothers me—my number one movie of last year was Martha Marcy May Marlene, which takes your desire for closure, throws it on the ground and stomps it into submission—but in this case I’m not entirely sure what the hurry is. As it is, Sound of My Voice is the kind of film that will stick with you for a couple hours, but if Batmanglij and Marling sunk their teeth in just a bit more its impact could be much greater.

Grade: B