The History of Sound ⁞⁞ Movie Spotlight

The period drama The History of Sound was helmed by gay South African director Oliver Hermanus and written by Ben Shattuck. Based on Shattuck's short stories "The History of Sound" and "Origin Stories," the narrative centers on the relationship that develops between Lionel (Paul Mescal) and David (Josh O'Connor), two young men attending the New England Conservatory of Music in 1917. The two quickly bond over folk music while in a pub, leading them to sleep together. Just as they grow close in their secret relationship, World War I pulls them apart with David being drafted into the military while Lionel returns home to help with his family farm after his father's death. When David returns from war two years later, he reaches out to Lionel, inviting him to join him on a trip across Maine as part of a college-funded trip to record and collect folk music from voices around the state. Lionel joins him and the two rekindle their romance, as they travel, listening and hearing the stories of the people they are recording from all walks of life. 

The two are forced to part ways when the project comes to an end and David returns to his work at the college. They keep in touch through letters until David seemingly ends their correspondence after a year. Lionel travels to Rome where he works for the University of Oxford, though he finds little happiness with his job or singing in the local choir. His attempt to move on to a new relationship with musician Vincent (Alessandro Bedetti) ends on bad terms and he attempts a relationship with socialite Clarissa. Haunted by memories of his time with David, Lionel ends his romance abruptly, taking the opportunity to return to America after learning of his mother's grave illness. It isn't long before Lionel seeks out David, traveling to Maine, only to learn that David died years earlier, shortly after returning from their travels together. Lionel goes looking for the wax cylinders that David used to collect the folk sounds of their journey. 

This leads him to David's widow, Belle (Hadley Robinson), who reveals that she knows who Lionel is. She explains having received all of Lionel's letters after David's death. Lionel discovers that she read them and was fully aware of their relationship. She then reveals to him that David took his own life not long after they were married. Lionel is left devastated to know that the war had left David shell shocked. Lionel mourns David by recounting a number of songs that endeared him to folk music. Belle promises to send him the wax cylinders of music if she finds them. Decades later, in 1980, the elder Lionel (Chris Cooper) is promoting his newest book when he receives the package containing the wax cylinders. Among the songs, he finds a recording that David made on the day he died, addressing Lionel with an apology and thanks for their time together. Lionel sheds a tear as the recording ends with David singing the same song from the pub on the night they met.