The Sounding starts off strong with a very interesting concept that draws you into the film and gets you wondering what's going on. The movie has some wonderful touching moments in the first half while also serving to build up more intrigue. We also see some spectacularly beautiful shots of Monhegan Island in Maine. However, as the story progresses it falters. The second half of the movie seems built to get the two main characters in a room together for the movie's climatic revelation. To do this the movie sacrifices much of its believability (as believable as a woman who only speaks in snippets of Shakespeare can be). Which would perhaps be OK if that revelation was at all deserving of the buildup it had been given. The Sounding does a pretty good job of building up the audience's desire to know WHY, but its payoff leaves the audience unsatisfied and the ending seems like an afterthought meant only to create a "happy" resolution.
I respect the movie for what it attempted and it certainly has some good parts, but it ultimately falls short of the very high bar it sets for itself.
I respect the movie for what it attempted and it certainly has some good parts, but it ultimately falls short of the very high bar it sets for itself.