The History of Sound

Synopsis

Lionel (Paul Mescal) is a gifted singer from rural Kentucky, raised on the songs his father used to sing on the front porch. In 1917, he leaves the family farm to attend the Boston Music Conservatory, where he meets David (Josh O’Connor), a charming composition student who is soon drafted into the final stages of the war.

By 1920, the two reunite and spend a winter walking through the forests and islands of Maine, collecting folk songs to preserve them for future generations.

With The History of Sound (2025), Moffie (2019) director Oliver Hermanus crafts his own Brokeback Mountain (2005)—a tender, aching chronicle of a love whose echoes are felt for a lifetime.