The History of Sound Review: A Sonic Queer Masterpiece That Occasionally Drifts Into the Silence

Director: Oliver Hermanus

Cast: Paul Mescal (Lionel Worthing), Josh O’Connor (David White)

My Rating: 7.4/10

The Verdict

The History of Sound is a film of immense technical beauty and unparalleled acting, where the chemistry between Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor is excellent, but while the performances are good, the film’s two-hour runtime and pivot into a decade-spanning travelogue in the second half occasionally lose the intimate spark of the beginning - it's a deeply moving, if slightly over-ambitious, exploration of love and preservation

The Full Review

Oliver Hermanus’s adaptation of Ben Shattuck’s short story is something an incredibly specific movie - it’s a film about the physical weight of sound, and while a lot of sheer artistry is on display, its deliberate pacing will be a love-it-or-hate-it factor for many people.

The Plot: A Summer in Maine

It's 1917, where Lionel Worthing, played by Mescal, a farm boy from Kentucky with musical synesthesia, meets the more privileged David White, played by O’Connor, at a Boston conservatory, where the film quickly skips over the war itself, focusing instead on their 1920 reunion.

And when David, struggling with what we now recognize as shell shock, convinces Lionel to join him on a trek through rural Maine to record traditional folk songs on wax cylinders.

The idyll of this middle section was the best part of the movie - full of naked swimming, blueberry picking, and a deep, uncomplicated joy, which I felt was the heart of the movie, though the film takes a hard turn in the second half.

Performances: The Sound of Longing

The pairing of Mescal and O’Connor is as good as the internet hoped it would be, and O’Connor plays David with a manic, flickering energy - a man trying to outrun his trauma through work, while Mescal is the steady ground.

Mescal’s ability to listen on camera is his greatest asset here, making you feel the frequency of David’s voice, and I the scene where David squirts water from his mouth into Lionel’s, is a bizarre but strangely intimate moment from the book, to be a testament to how comfortable these two actors are with each other.

Synesthesia and Soundscapes

The sound design is done by Ruy García and Eugene Gearty, where they use subtle visual cues, and flashes of color during certain notes, where the scratchy, tinny sound of the wax cylinders is used a metaphor for the fragility of queer history.

While we only get pieces of the truth, the soundtrack, which features Mescal and O’Connor singing folk staples like Silver Dagger, to be hauntingly authentic.

The History of Sound vs. Heated Rivalry

If we compare The History of Sound to my recent review of Heated Rivalry, both feature men struggling with secrets, but they couldn’t be more different in tone, because Heated Rivalry is loud, fast, and modern. whereas The History of Sound is the slow-burn longing version, similar to what I enjoyed in All of Us Strangers.

Ending Explained: The 1980s Revelation (SPOILERS)

The History of Sound ends with a lengthy coda set in 1984, where an older Lionel, played by Chris Cooper, finally receives a package, and inside are the long-lost wax cylinders from that summer in Maine, where Lionel hears a recording that David made on the day of his death, which acts as the ultimate act of closure.

You also find out that David lied about the college commissioning the trip, as he invented the project just to spend time with Lionel, which was a beautiful testament to the lengths David went for love, and the final shot of the needle hitting the groove of Silver Dagger was a perfect, heart-piercing resolution.

History of Sound FAQ

Is it based on a true story?

While the characters are fictional, the practice of recording folk songs on wax cylinders was a real and vital part of American musicology in the 1920s.

Where can I watch The History of Sound?

As of late January 2026, you can rent it thought Amazon or Apple TV, though because it is a MUBI co-production, it is expected to stream there by the summer too.

Is there a lot of raunchiness?

No, while there is nudity and intimacy, director Oliver Hermanus keeps the focus on emotional companionship, which I noticed feels much more tender than explicit.

What happened to David?

The film reveals, through David’s widow Belle, that he died by suicide shortly after his trip with Lionel, a result of the shell shock he carried from WWI.

Does Paul Mescal actually have synesthesia?

In interviews I found he spent time with people who have the condition to understand how to react to sound in a way that felt authentic.