Sound of My Voice

Christopher Denham and Brit Marling in The Sound of My Voice

***1/2 out of ****

Sound of My Voice is a low-budget psychological thriller that thrives on it's limitations. It's filled with thought-provoking concepts, good acting, and a realistically scary setting. This is a movie that is many things, but it is mostly about seduction. 

The plot is about a couple of documentary filmmakers (no, this is not a found-footage-style movie) who have taken on the dangerous task of infiltrating a cult that is so protective of it's secrets, it is natural to assume they are dangerous. Using a pair of glasses with a micro-camera built-in. They intend to expose this cult and their manipulative tactics.

The secret of this cult is Maggie, the leader they meet when they join. She claims to be from the future, but what she needs followers for stays a mystery for a while. She's just really good at controlling them. As the story develops, one of the two documentarians gradually becomes devoted to her. I was a little reminded of one of my all-time favorite films, Twelve Monkeys.

Britt Marling, who plays Maggie, is also the co-writer of the film. She also served as actress and co-writer in Another Earth. Both are low-budget dramas which lean towards science-fiction. She is a beautiful talent and asset to these productions. Marling's gotten off to a good start in the current world of independent cinema. Her next collaboration with this film's director Zal Batmanglij, is called The East and is described to be thematically similar to this one except it is about the infiltration of an anarchist group. I look forward to it.