The History of Sound Review: LFF 2025

Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor star in period romance The History of Sound

In 1917, Lionel (Paul Mescal) hears a familiar song being played across a crowded bar, and so meets David (Josh O’Connor). The two are students at the Boston Conservatory of Music and strike up an instant bond. They come from disparate backgrounds; Lionel is a poor farmer’s son who grew up in a one room cabin in Kentucky, while David is a monied New Englander who has travelled extensively, yet they share a love of traditional folk music. That love of music quickly develops into a romantic relationship, which is abruptly cut short when David is drafted to serve in the First World War.

When the war is over, David invites Lionel on a research trip around rural Maine to ‘collect songs’ – encouraging the local people they encounter to sing into their phonograph so that their songs and stories can be recorded for posterity. The two men’s relationship is rekindled, yet at the end of the trip, they go their separate ways with promises to stay in touch. Several years pass while Lionel travels the world as a singer, yet he cannot get his time with David out of his mind, eventually returning home to look up his first love.

The History of Sound is the latest from director Oliver Hermanus and is adapted from a short story by Ben Shattuck. Bookended by two beautiful performances of the traditional song ‘Silver Dagger’ from Mescal and O’Connor, it pits it’s love story against a gorgeous selection of simply performed folk music. It’s a film of two halves, but unfortunately, it doesn’t feel like it provides enough depth to either of them.

The History of Sound ends with a lovely message from Lionel about the power of folk music, its ability to transport human stories and emotion across time and space, to evoke universal feelings across borders and cultures, and the ineffable way it can allow us to communicate when simply spoken words won’t do. The folk performances we see the two men record are truly beautiful, but it doesn’t quite feel that the film makes sufficient effort to dig into the people or stories behind the songs, so while we watch the two men be deeply moved by the music, it’s not quite powerful enough to do the same for us.

Meanwhile, the love story is equally beautiful; understated and tender, it’s carried in small gestures and observances rather than any grand declarations. Mescal and O’Connor have already starred in the two greatest queer romances of the 21st century (God’s Own Country and All of Us Strangers – if you wanted to know), so there was no doubt they could do this romance justice – but it’s just not given enough screen time.

With over half of The History of Sound’s running time spent watching Lionel moping around his family farm or around Europe, we don’t get to see enough of the reason for him to be so hung up on this relationship until we’re teased with snippets of flashback later in the film – and by then it feels unsatisfyingly late to be getting these scenes. The whole thing would have more emotional impact if we just got more time with the couple.

Mescal and O’Connor give terrifically tender performances in this achingly melancholy film that is as much a love letter to the power of music as it is a story about the transcendent power of love. I just wish it had given these two great talents a little more to work with, because their scenes together are all magnificent.

The History of Sound is playing as part of the BFI London Film Festival. It will be released in UK cinemas on 23rd January 2026

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