- The History of Sound, the weeper starring Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor, hits theaters today!
- Here's everything you know about where you can watch it now, and where you can likely stream it in the future.
- O'Connor and Mescal both have other movies coming out this fall, including the new Knives Out movie (for O'Connor) and a Shakespeare story called Hamnet starring Mescal.
Since its premiere at Cannes Film Festival back in May of this year, The History of Sound has generated more buzz than your average wartime melodrama, largely due to its star casting. With Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor in center frame, The History of Sound follows two Boston Music Conservatory students circa 1917 who journey through rural Maine, recording the folk songs of their countrymen in the shadow of World War I.
Need more? Mescal plays Lionel, a Kentucky farm boy who learned to sing on his front porch with his father. When he enrolls at Boston Music Conservatory, he meets O’Connor’s David, a composition student with all the charm our favorite actor has become known for. David is drafted towards the end of the war, returning to begin a project with Lionel wherein the two embark on a Hot Boy Winter Walk through the backwaters to collect and preserve folk songs. The film follows Lionel through the consequent years of his life, regularly drawn back to his time with David and the work they completed together.
The History of Sound is one of the longer anticipated films of the season, which is stacking up to be a competitive one. Across recent showings at Venice Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival, a number of names have risen to the top of everyone’s watch list; and good news, this isn’t the only Paul Mescal contender. The Irish heartthrob and our forever Connell has received early praise for his performance in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet. In that early awards darling, he plays a grieving William Shakespeare after the loss of his son, and how that experience inspired his most famous work, Hamlet.
If you’re counting, that's at least four hours of Paul Mescal devastation this season. Praise be.
So, how can we watch The History of Sound?
For now, the film is only playing in theaters, premiering on September 12. Respect the form!
When will it stream?
The History of Sound was acquired by Mubi, in addition to Focus Features and Universal Pictures. That said, this flick is likely to stream on Mubi. We hear your groans, “Who has Mubi?” Fear not, the film will likely be available to rent on Amazon Prime Video and Apple, and after all, film ain't free.
As for the timeline, we predict you’ll be able to watch this by Christmas. Just in time for awards buzz. Can you wait until then? We won’t be.
