Directed by Oliver Hermanus, ‘The History of Sound’ is a period romance drama film based on short stories written by Ben Shattuck, specifically The History of Sound and Origin Stories. The History of Sound stars Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor and is now showing in cinemas worldwide.

In 1917, Boston Conservatory music students Lionel Worthing and David White meet at a pub, where they instantly bond over their love of folk music and quickly begin a romantic relationship. As the two become closer, America gets involved in World War I, and David must leave to serve their country every few months, but they keep in contact and reunite.

They keep their romance a secret from everyone due to gay relationships being illegal, but they make the most of any time they get together. When they are together, they travel around America to teach and record folk music to preserve its history. Over time, David having to serve causes complications in their relationship, and Lionel stops receiving letters from him.

Paul Mescal stars as Lionel, and Josh O’Connor stars as David, and together they have fantastic on-screen chemistry. Audiences will feel the genuine love between them and how happy they are with each other. Like all couples, their forbidden relationship isn’t without its challenges. Surprisingly, it’s not because same sex relationships were illegal during this time, but more because of David having to leave to go fight in a war.

The film doesn’t show any of the war scenes, but it does show the effects it had on David, even when he doesn’t show it. Each time they reunite, it feels like no time was lost, and David’s personality seems the same, though he does show some subtle signs of PTSD.

When they aren’t together, the film does a great job of making audiences feel David’s absence along with Lionel, who goes through different phases in his life when they’re apart, whether helping at his family’s farm or working different jobs. It’s clear to see Lionel just going through the motions until he sees David again.

The movie’s title indicates that it’s also about music, and those scenes are some of the most memorable. When Lionel is without David and isn’t busy, he’ll be thinking of music and dancing to the sounds he hears, being a free spirit.

With David, they travel across America to record people singing to try and preserve its history, which later became known as American folk music. These are also some of the most wholesome moments throughout the film, to see and hear what music was like back in the early 1900s and the culturally diverse people who sang those songs.

Unfortunately, as good as all those moments are, the film as a whole feels like it can’t decide what the main subject to focus on is. It’s common for films to focus on more than one subject, but the better examples have them all flow together and transition seamlessly. In The History of Sound, the overall film feels like it drags and you’re just waiting for it get to the point or move on the next scene. It feels like there’s too much of some things and not enough of other things.

The romance between the two main characters is done fantastically, but when it’s about the music, it doesn’t feel like it gives enough screen time to it. The music scenes are done just as well, but you’ll be left wanting more because of how good they are and how determined Lionel and David are to travel long distances just to share their passion for music. There are long stretches of the film that have nothing to do with music, so it’s easy to forget that music is also a major part of the story despite the movie’s title.

Overall, the moments themselves are done incredibly well and make the film worth watching, but it doesn’t have that natural flow to bring them together. Despite its setbacks, the ending makes it all worth it by tying up all the loose ends and making it about the music before the credits begin. Of course, we can’t go into detail but it is a bittersweet, emotional and heart wrenching ending.

Being set in the late 1910s and early 1920s, the film does an amazing job to make it look and feel like that time period, from the fashion, vehicles, buildings and architecture, as well as the characters ’mannerisms, accents and words and phrases they used back in the day.

When Lionel and David are travelling across America to the countryside towns, it shows the old homes and shacks surrounded by beautiful forests and lakes. Those moments allow you to take it all in and just admire the scenery before enjoying classic American folk music.

To get these recordings, Lionel and David travel with a phonograph and wax cylinders, which was the technology at the time and set them up for people to sing their original songs. These days, we can easily do all of this on a smartphone, so it’s interesting to see how it was done over a hundred years ago. Lionel and David having to travel with all this equipment shows how passionate and determined they were to record these songs and preserve a piece of American history.

The History of Sound has so much potential, but it doesn’t manage to reach it. It has a collection of memorable and emotional moments, but isn’t able to piece them together and make them flow as one whole movie. Even if it doesn’t seem to know what it wants the main subject to be, it’s still a beautiful story about forbidden love and preserving American history, and a huge part of that is thanks to Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor’s onscreen chemistry. The History of Sound may not be as groundbreaking as it could be, but it’s still filled with moments that make it all worth watching.

Written by: Sammy Hanson