"Sound of Metal is a sweet, melancholy character study about a deeply flawed man learning to cope with personal tragedy." - Boston Hassle
"An acting tour-de-force by Ahmed and the film's sound design is also worthy of the praise it has been getting. A brilliant depiction of a man whose life capsizes overnight and must gradually adjust to a new reality." - JumpCut
"A film about the sudden onset of deafness that is too attentive to specifics of character and setting to ever feel like a rote disability drama, Darius Marder's Sound of Metal stars Riz Ahmed as a man whose life, up to now, has revolved around music. Working through the stages of grief, Ahmed's drummer gets stuck at Bargaining: Is there a way to undo the damage done to his ears, and return to life as he knows it? The question, a much more complicated one than he wants to believe, nudges Sound to pick sides in a controversy unfamiliar to most moviegoers. But even when the cultural politics are explicit, Ahmed's performance and a sure-footed script by Marder and his brother Abraham ensure that this remains one man's story — and one that should be warmly welcomed at art houses." - Hollywood Reporter