From cast members to plot points, here’s everything we know (so far) about The History of Sound.
WORDS BY ALICE MOREY
HEADER BY ANISA CLEAVER
2023 was awash with leading queer men (finally), from Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal in the psychological ghost story All of Us Strangers and Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer in toe-sucking drama Fellow Travelers. Luke Evans also teamed up with Billy Porter in Our Son to represent the realities of queer divorce and then featured alongside Dan Levy in the emotional drama Good Grief. (Check out our best queer films of 2023 here.)
Thankfully, more queer male characters will lead projects this year with the likes of Desire Lines, Problemista and I Saw The TV Glow. One of the most anticipated new films, however, is The History of Sound. The queer romance drama, adapted from Ben Shattuck’s titular novel, had pulses racing when Mescal and God’s Own Country star Josh O’Connor were cast as the leads back in 2021. (We can understand why. We suffered the same fate.)
From cast members to the plot, here’s a recap of everything that we know so far about The History of Sound.
What’s the plot?
The History of Sound is based on the Pushcart Prize-winning novel by Ben Shattuck, a collection of 12 short stories that are set across three centuries and explores the generational patterns of love and loss. Each following story provides a revelation of the previous entrant.
The title story follows two young men in the shadows of WWI who are determined to record the lives, voices and music of their American countrymen. Lionel (Mescal) and David (O’Connor) begin to log the events, whilst falling in love in the process.
The adaption is being directed by Oliver Hermanus and produced by Tim Haslam, Andrew Kortschac, Lisa Ciuffetti and Andrea Roa. Hermanus is best known for his Queer Palm Award-winning romance Beauty (2011). He also serves as the director and executive producer of Sky Atlantic’s upcoming historical queer series Mary & George, which stars Oscar
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Billy Porter
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