Sound of Violence

I have a fascination with synesthesia. The idea that the brain can cross the wires of the senses and have one influence the other like a feedback loop blows my mind. I’m sure those who endure it probably get annoyed at tasting vanilla when they hear a C-sharp, so, apologies to you. The how and why is just so interesting to me, and how it could be used in media is a huge hook for me. It fuels my favorite video game of all time, Rez, and it was the draw for this movie. Unfortunately, that hook was baited with garbage, because this movie is just bad and wastes every neat premise it brings up. Alexis had deafness as a child from an accident. Somehow, she regains her hearing after her dad kills her mom and brother and she kills him, and with it, experiences synesthesia, seeing a kaleidoscope of colors to the sound of human suffering. But as an adult, she starts to lose it again, so she decides to commit acts of violence to capture the sounds and recapture her hearing. One of this movie’s many problems is that the synesthesia element is pointless. It’s treated like a dose of a drug; she kills someone, she sees colors and has some kind of euphoric fit. There is literally no plot element for which it serves. Her loss of hearing and trying to keep it is more than enough to serve the point. The synesthesia element just gives the opportunity for the effects guy to play with light filters. So, that sucks. But then there’s the whole murder plot. Alexis’ transformation from person to psychopath is as abrupt as flicking a light switch. There is no slow slide into madness, no desperation, no escalation. Just “hmm, I remember getting my hearing back from beating my dad to death with a meat tenderizer, I guess I need to become a serial killer now”. It’s jarring and undeserving, given what we’ve seen so far. But hey, it gets worse. Alexis’ murders aren’t just killing someone; they are elaborate contraptions of torture so she can record the suffering for her audio magnum opus. Her contraptions make the traps in Jigsaw look like a Chinese finger trap, and all of them are illogical in the extreme. One requires an extensive knowledge of mechanics and welding. Another requires professional-level knowledge of electrical work. And a third doctor-level experience with anatomy. It stretches credulity past the breaking point and pushes the movie to a level that makes Hellraiser look as grounded as Steel Magnolias. Add in dozens of plot contrivances that the movie needs to move forward, like a police investigation that goes nowhere until the plot needs it to catch up and suddenly there’s clues everywhere. Or the unrequited love story that the object of desire should only be oblivious to if she is in a coma. Or how Alexis has at least two incidents of violence we know of in her past that she was openly happy about, and yes this didn’t trigger mental health officials. Or how her hearing comes and goes at will because the movie needs it to happen that way. Every moment of this movie is carefully crafted to tell the story, but the problem is, every moment is so contrived, nothing feels like a logical progression. There is no arc, no change, only a series of points that must be hit for the plot to move forward, even if the plot makes no sense. This is less a story and more of a program, executing the steps of a broken formula, a weird mishmash of Saw and A Bucket Of Blood, but understanding neither. Or that they don’t go together. Or, to stay on brand and put it in musical terms, imagine your favorite song by your favorite band, and then imagine your most hated band covering it. With out of tune instruments. And a singer who has forgotten the words and just shoved in syllables to fill the meter.