Film

CODA

Name: CODA
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance
Released: 2021
Cast: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Eugenio Derbez, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo

A hearing teenager in a deaf fishing family has to choose between her own voice and the ears her parents depend on. It's a coming-of-age film with real music and real sign language, funny and unguarded rather than saccharine, anchored by a note-perfect deaf cast. Good for anyone who wants a cry that earns itself.

TMDb rating

7.9

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A working-class kid's talent collides with family loyalty and economic reality, exactly CODA's shape, transposed to a mining town and ballet shoes.

But The strike-era Britain backdrop and broader accents take some adjusting to if you're not used to the period or place.

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

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Sound of Metal2020no page yet

A musician losing his hearing is the mirror image of Ruby's story, and it's just as serious about what deafness actually means, day to day.

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Children of a Lesser God1986no page yet

It's the film that made Matlin who she is, and thirty-five years later CODA hands her the mother role in the same conversation about deaf autonomy versus hearing assumptions.

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