"I want people to think to themselves, 'If I remove everything, all the trappings of who I think I am, who am I'" That's what Director Darius Marder says is the one thing he hopes audiences take away from seeing Sound of Metal. Discovery of one's self is the core of the film. The story follows heavy metal drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) as he struggles with the new reality of his life when he loses his hearing. As a former addict, Ruben is teetering on the edge of a relapse and his girlfriend, Lou (Olivia Cooke), knows that if she doesn't get him help soon he will backslide. Ruben is determined to "fix" the situation and refuses to accept that his hearing loss is permanent. The sober-living support group that Ruben and Olivia find for him is also a deaf community and it forces Ruben to confront the reality of his situation and determine what he actually wants to become. The core of Sound of Metal comes down to the words spoken in the serenity prayer: Accepting the things you can't change, fi
