Nothing Like A Cult Movie to Jolt You Back Into Reality Afterwards

Sound of My Voice (2012)

A Review by Ben Hunter

4 Out of 5 Stars
April 27, 2012

Up and coming collaborators Zal Batmanglij & Brit Marling fuel both sides of the war that is true freedom in life.  On one side is the established order, the everyday life that we’ve all become accustomed to.  The other is to be truly unlocked from society’s chains.  This is what Maggie (Brit Marling) teaches her set of cult followers throughout Sound of My Voice. 

Set in present day, Peter & Lorna (Christopher Denham and Nicole Vicius,), investigative journalists and lovers, seek out to expose a cult led by Maggie, a girl claiming to be from the future.  She teaches the cult of how things are in this time and how they can become better people by the things they do now.  They truly follow the “sound of her voice”.  Maggie never leaves the house; she can’t be exposed to daylight, her followers grow all of her food, she’s truly worshipped by this cult.  A cult that Peter & Lorna are determined to expose!

This is a very eerie film.  It gives you an odd feeling while experiencing.  It’s apart of that indie/art house world of filmmaking, so it’s completely focused on the story and not the special effects or the smoke and mirrors so to speak.  Starting off I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about what was taking place.  It just feels as if something unusual, something disturbing, maybe even a little disgusting or even unethical was going to take place with the mood this setting brings.  But with that setting, it definitely keeps your attention, as you really want to know what’s going to happen next. 

So wanting to know more, we go a little in depth about what Maggie’s true intentions are with her followers.  This pushes the relationship of our two protagonists to its limit.  They start to wonder if it’s really worth it to try to expose the cult, as they’re now apart of it and have become what they’ve set out to stop.

The story appears airtight.  I found some moments a little too coincidental and the ending too ambiguous however.  So I’m not 100% on the film but still very much intrigued by its quality.  I’m sure the filmmakers expected much from its ending and story as I discovered in a Q&A with such filmmakers that this is just the first of a trilogy.  Who would’ve thought such in the indie film and art house world? 

But this is good, the battle between making money vs. making quality in the industry join sides a little with this endeavor.  I hope this story really takes off but with the proper producing and not “Hollywood” taking over; turning this innocent, small, indie film-like story into a corporate monster filled with gimmicks and commercialized storytelling. 

So after watching this film, we all should anticipate more from this eerie world of Maggie, eagerly waiting how the cult continues or not and become apart of the real life cult of followers Batmanglij & Marling have created with Sound of My Voice!

Sound of My Voice

Thriller, 85 Minutes, R

Written by: Brit Marling & Zal Batmanglij

Directed by: Zal Batmanglij

Cast: Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius, & Brit Marling