CODA (2021, PG-13)

Best Picture nominee #4 is definitely my favorite so far, by quite a ways. Great acting, strong emotions, and an all-around excellent film.

Ruby is a CODA, a child of Deaf adults. Her parents and older brother are all Deaf, and for as long as Ruby has remembered, she’s had to “help” her family. Whether that’s handling much of the business interactions for the family fishing boat or serving as an amateur interpreter for her parents and brother, she always feels the weight of that responsibility and those expectations. When she decides to join the school choir, her teacher nurtures her musical talent and encourages her to audition for music school, but Ruby is conflicted: can she really go after what she wants when it feels like her family depends so much on her?

There’s a lot of interesting Deaf-related stuff going on in this movie, some awesome, some complicated, and some problematic. I’ll go into it more in a separate post. For now, I’ll say that, even though the film centers a hearing character’s experience, it feels like a further step into authentically representing Deaf culture in movies from last year’s Sound of Metal. (Okay, prestige Hollywood—your job for next year is a film about a Deaf character, played by a Deaf actor, where the story has nothing to do with music!) I like that it’s messy. There’s a lot of conflict going on and a lot of hurt to be shared, but ultimately, this is still a family that loves each other. I enjoy watching the journey as they navigate their boundaries, as Ruby tries to establish her own identity apart from her family, and as they all try to see where one another are coming from.

The film received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination. I’d wondered if it was based on a book, but it turns out it’s an American remake of a French movie. Sian Heder does double duty as both director and screenwriter, and while it appears she doesn’t have any connection with Deafness herself, she tells this story with vivid detail, honest emotion, and imaginative humor. It’s a movie that captures the full spectrum of emotion really well, and even as characters are initially presented as fairly narrow “types,” each expands and shows us multiple sides of them as the film goes on.

I didn’t recognize Emilia Jones, who plays Ruby—however, IMDb tells me that she guest starred in the series 7 Doctor Who episode “The Rings of Akhaten,” as little Merry! She does a great job here. Her singing is wonderful, her signing is pretty decent (especially when she turns her voice off,) and her acting is fantastic. I also really enjoy Eugenio Derbez as Mr. V., Ruby’s music teacher; his methods seem to stretch the bounds of what you could do as a small-town music teacher, but he’s fun and has an interesting dynamic with Ruby. For me, though, the absolute stars of the show are Marlee Matlin as Ruby’s mom, Troy Kotsur as Ruby’s dad (nominated for Best Supporting Actor! Woot woot!), and Daniel Durant as Ruby’s brother Leo. All three of them are so superb in their roles, by turns hilarious, maddening, and heartwarming. Ruby’s mom is trashy and fabulous, and while she can get way too far up her own ass, she also has a major vulnerable side. Ruby’s dad is a salt-of-the-earth fisherman who’s discontent with the way things are but nervous about trying to make a change, and he’s equal parts embarrassing dad and loving father. And although Leo has no plans to leave their small pond, that doesn’t mean he’s without ambition, and it’s interesting to see his reaction to all the responsibility his parents put on Ruby.

Warnings

Language, sexual content, drinking/drug use, and thematic elements.