A suspenseful, slow-burning, psychological thriller about a young man whose paranoia has him torn between the pain of abandoning his daughter and the safety of his own life. A bag of money, a tumultuous chase and a story of man versus self.
“The Sound of The Wind” follows Lucio, played by Christian Gnecco Quintero, and his sudden need to escape from his pursuers. The premise of the film is rather simple – one man is being pursued by an anonymous entity and it is presumed to be because of the suspicious bag of cash that he is lugging around. Rather than going home in order to protect his wife and daughter, Lucio instead ventures out into rural areas without a plan.
The film pushes for a constant afterthought in its every scene. Not everything is the reality that is portrayed and proclaimed by Lucio as his fear and desperation manifests itself in all of his interactions with people, including the wife he loves. However, Quintero’s performance as Lucio is overshadowed by his surroundings – almost literally. The final production of the film fails to consider the importance of light and its uses, especially when introducing some of the darker thematic elements of human interaction. Sequence after sequence, there is a moodiness in both visual and audio aspects that do not contribute to the plot but instead distracts from it, inciting an exasperation for the monotony of the tone. Because of the darkness in his surroundings, Lucio is ultimately delivered with a two-dimensional opaqueness and fails to attract empathy towards his plight. Instead, there is mostly confusion in the wake of his movements even until the final sequence of the film.
The most interesting aspect of “The Sound of The Wind” is its attempt at initiating a dialogue regarding the effects of mental health concerns or disorders on an individual and their surroundings. While I cannot comment on how accurate the portrayal of a mental health concern is in this film, it does not hide the struggles that an individual has to go through with themselves in order to even address the need to get help. There is a deep sense of untapped potential in the film for the feelings of loneliness an individual can feel when experiencing a mental struggle. Rather than exploring that sense of loneliness, the film chooses to trap Lucio into a struggle between denial and truth. Denial is a strong obstacle in the face of mental illness and it builds the misconception that asking for help is a source of weakness when it is, in fact, a source of strength. Being able to acknowledge that there is a struggle is the first step to overcoming the struggle. Rather than complicating the plot with the many ways to address someone’s mental illness, the film renders the logistics of acquiring help as inconsequential. Instead, the film simply concludes with a message that the best source of resilience against the self and against a stigmatized illness is support from loved ones who do not give up on you despite the dangerous toll that is taken on beloved relationships.
Available in a virtual theatrical release April 24th and on Digital May 1st
