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In "Sound of My Voice," Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius), a couple and documentary filmmaking team, infiltrate a mysterious group led by an enigmatic young woman named Maggie (Brit Marling). Intent on exposing her as a charlatan and freeing the followers from her grip, Peter and Lorna start to question their objective and each other as they unravel the secrets of Maggie's underworld.Director Zal Batmanglij and his co-writer and star Brit Marling offer a welcome alternative to conventional coming of age stories or navel-gazing opuses with a story about a couple whose commitment to one another is tested after they infiltrate a mysterious cult. Sound of My Voice offers promise and pay off at the same time. Star and writer Brit Marling is having a rare double-whammy of a debut; it's the sort that gives producers of independent films hope for their future while supplying studios with a new name for their casting shortlists. Although the film won't likely demolish any box office records when Fox Searchlight releases it in late summer, almost-rhapsodic festival buzz should give Sound of My Voice solid commercial prospects before itself becoming a cult sensation on home video.
The film stars Christopher Denham and Nicole Vicius as Peter and Lorna, a pair of aspiring documentarians who go undercover to see the inner workings of a mysterious Los Angeles-based cult. At first, both of them are merely content to penetrate the organization's rigorous screening process, especially when some of their recording devices are almost discovered. But their solidarity soon disintegrates as Maggie (Marling), the cult's charismatic leader, taps into some of Peter's deeper insecurities (meanwhile, he insists to Lorna that he is as resilient as ever). Despite some inconsistencies in Maggie's "origin story," Peter slowly begins to succumb to her charms, but it isn't until Maggie asks him for something dangerous that Lorna has to decide what she truly believes, and what that means she must do for both their sakes.
Although there are snippets of backstory and a full-fledged mythic tale of creation for Maggie, what's most interesting about Sound of My Voice is how spartan the film is with its detailsthat terseness creates a lot of intrigue. Batmanglij and Marling unveil the world to the characters and the audience simultaneously, giving us as much information as Lorna and Peter get, not simply to create a sense of identification, but also to provoke. They tap into a deep anxiety of the unknown as much with what they reveal as what they don't.
Meanwhile, the film's emotional core is not merely cemented together with great, measured writing, but with performances equal to that writing's ambiguity and intensity. Certainly the skeptic-who-becomes-a-convert characterization can lend itself to clich, but both Denham and Vicius are equal to the task of showing us that Peter and Lorna are subtly changing as a response to their experiences in the cult. That said, Marling is so magnetic as Maggie that either character's submission to her would feel completely understandable; as a screenwriter she provides us with cloudy truths, but Marling's performance is effortless, irrefutable certainty. Although her actual motives are left obscure, Marling gives Maggie authority, and perhaps most importantly, a precisely ingratiating charm that convinces us her followers might consider obedience to be more of a favor to them than fealty to her demands.
The use of illness to dissuade the cult's followers from probing deeper or to urge protectiveness towards the supposedly vulnerable, anachronistic creature at the center of the commune is another of the film's brilliant manipulations. These are the sorts of flourishes that distinguish this film from the landscape of debuts that, by comparison, feel as telegraphed and clichd as a studio tentpole. It doesn't just take a good story, or even an original one; it takes vision to bring it to life. And if Sound of My Voice is any indication of what's to come from them, Marling and Batmanglij should probably prepare themselves for a cult of devout followers offscreen. Watch free movies online
The 2011 Sundance graduate opens as Peter and Lorna (Christopher Denham & Nicole Vicius) an intimately involved duo of documentary filmmakers are bound and blindfolded by two men in robes. From there, the two are showered, cleaned, put into those same robes, led down to a basement, forced to enact some bizarre secret handshake clap, slap, slap, snap, clap and wait along with the most motley crew of followers for someone. This someone turns out be Maggie (Brit Marling also serving as co-writer on the film) a dying but radiant twenty-something who claims to be from the year 2059 and forecasts devastating events in the not too distant future. From the get-go Peter and Lorna mark Maggie as dangerous and set out to expose her for the fraud they think she is; but its hard to see why Maggie is such a threat to them she has a cult in an empty houses basement, her followers number about eight two of whom are over fifty, another overweight, the rest less than intimidating. When Lorna terrifyingly remarks how Maggie may be forming her own personal militia its hard to be anything but amused at the prospect of this ragtag crew forming their own army. But thats the point. Sound of My Voice is far less critical of this supposed cult as it is of those who snootily dismiss it. Cynicism and skepticism are the targets. As the film progresses, Maggies validity becomes increasingly moot. The question becomes will Peter and Lorna believe her true.
Brit Marling is simply astounding as Maggie able to balance the etherealness and fire-breathing intensity of the character seamlessly. Sweet and docile yet unbelievably manipulative and often times downright cruel. These dualities, instead of becoming contradictory, in Marlings hands feel absolutely essential. The rest of the cast is equally good, in particular Christopher Denham as super skeptic Peter who slowly finds himself completely taken by Marling, and Nicole Vicius as Lorna his soft-spoken girlfriend forced to extreme measures to keep their relationship intact.
Sound of My Voice makes ample use of its limited budget a majority of the film taking place in a rundown basement, creating a palpable sense of claustrophobia and tension many a multi-million dollar film struggle to ever achieve. A scene, wherein Peter swallows a small camera to smuggle into the cult becomes unbearably intense, as Maggie demands all of her disciples to purge themselves of the corporate agendas and mass-market influences they have swallowed up. One by one the followers force themselves to literally throw up. When Maggie notices Peter refusing to participate, she naturally confronts him the scene evolving from a master-class in suspense (Will Peter be found out?) into a devastating emotional putdown. A latter scene invoking a certain Cranberries number is so damn good, Im remiss to even hint at what transpires within.
The film stars Christopher Denham and Nicole Vicius as Peter and Lorna, a pair of aspiring documentarians who go undercover to see the inner workings of a mysterious Los Angeles-based cult. At first, both of them are merely content to penetrate the organization's rigorous screening process, especially when some of their recording devices are almost discovered. But their solidarity soon disintegrates as Maggie (Marling), the cult's charismatic leader, taps into some of Peter's deeper insecurities (meanwhile, he insists to Lorna that he is as resilient as ever). Despite some inconsistencies in Maggie's "origin story," Peter slowly begins to succumb to her charms, but it isn't until Maggie asks him for something dangerous that Lorna has to decide what she truly believes, and what that means she must do for both their sakes.
Although there are snippets of backstory and a full-fledged mythic tale of creation for Maggie, what's most interesting about Sound of My Voice is how spartan the film is with its detailsthat terseness creates a lot of intrigue. Batmanglij and Marling unveil the world to the characters and the audience simultaneously, giving us as much information as Lorna and Peter get, not simply to create a sense of identification, but also to provoke. They tap into a deep anxiety of the unknown as much with what they reveal as what they don't.
Meanwhile, the film's emotional core is not merely cemented together with great, measured writing, but with performances equal to that writing's ambiguity and intensity. Certainly the skeptic-who-becomes-a-convert characterization can lend itself to clich, but both Denham and Vicius are equal to the task of showing us that Peter and Lorna are subtly changing as a response to their experiences in the cult. That said, Marling is so magnetic as Maggie that either character's submission to her would feel completely understandable; as a screenwriter she provides us with cloudy truths, but Marling's performance is effortless, irrefutable certainty. Although her actual motives are left obscure, Marling gives Maggie authority, and perhaps most importantly, a precisely ingratiating charm that convinces us her followers might consider obedience to be more of a favor to them than fealty to her demands.
The use of illness to dissuade the cult's followers from probing deeper or to urge protectiveness towards the supposedly vulnerable, anachronistic creature at the center of the commune is another of the film's brilliant manipulations. These are the sorts of flourishes that distinguish this film from the landscape of debuts that, by comparison, feel as telegraphed and clichd as a studio tentpole. It doesn't just take a good story, or even an original one; it takes vision to bring it to life. And if Sound of My Voice is any indication of what's to come from them, Marling and Batmanglij should probably prepare themselves for a cult of devout followers offscreen. Watch free movies online
The 2011 Sundance graduate opens as Peter and Lorna (Christopher Denham & Nicole Vicius) an intimately involved duo of documentary filmmakers are bound and blindfolded by two men in robes. From there, the two are showered, cleaned, put into those same robes, led down to a basement, forced to enact some bizarre secret handshake clap, slap, slap, snap, clap and wait along with the most motley crew of followers for someone. This someone turns out be Maggie (Brit Marling also serving as co-writer on the film) a dying but radiant twenty-something who claims to be from the year 2059 and forecasts devastating events in the not too distant future. From the get-go Peter and Lorna mark Maggie as dangerous and set out to expose her for the fraud they think she is; but its hard to see why Maggie is such a threat to them she has a cult in an empty houses basement, her followers number about eight two of whom are over fifty, another overweight, the rest less than intimidating. When Lorna terrifyingly remarks how Maggie may be forming her own personal militia its hard to be anything but amused at the prospect of this ragtag crew forming their own army. But thats the point. Sound of My Voice is far less critical of this supposed cult as it is of those who snootily dismiss it. Cynicism and skepticism are the targets. As the film progresses, Maggies validity becomes increasingly moot. The question becomes will Peter and Lorna believe her true.
Brit Marling is simply astounding as Maggie able to balance the etherealness and fire-breathing intensity of the character seamlessly. Sweet and docile yet unbelievably manipulative and often times downright cruel. These dualities, instead of becoming contradictory, in Marlings hands feel absolutely essential. The rest of the cast is equally good, in particular Christopher Denham as super skeptic Peter who slowly finds himself completely taken by Marling, and Nicole Vicius as Lorna his soft-spoken girlfriend forced to extreme measures to keep their relationship intact.
Sound of My Voice makes ample use of its limited budget a majority of the film taking place in a rundown basement, creating a palpable sense of claustrophobia and tension many a multi-million dollar film struggle to ever achieve. A scene, wherein Peter swallows a small camera to smuggle into the cult becomes unbearably intense, as Maggie demands all of her disciples to purge themselves of the corporate agendas and mass-market influences they have swallowed up. One by one the followers force themselves to literally throw up. When Maggie notices Peter refusing to participate, she naturally confronts him the scene evolving from a master-class in suspense (Will Peter be found out?) into a devastating emotional putdown. A latter scene invoking a certain Cranberries number is so damn good, Im remiss to even hint at what transpires within.