Review by CJ

Director:
Marjane Satrapi

Starring:
Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick

Other notable appearances:
Jacki Weaver, Ella Smith

Running time:
103 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
Tucker and Dale vs Evil, What We Do in the Shadows, Shaun of the Dead

 

Jerry (Reynolds) is an awkward but affable worker in the packing and shipping department of a toilet factory. When he goes home though, he assigns the voices in his head to his pet dog, a loving and supportive buddy, and his cat, a crude and self-absorbed jerk.

The advice his pets give him is mostly harmless, until Jerry accidentally murders the woman on whom he had a workplace crush. The deeper Jerry gets into burying her murder, the more his own life and delusions crumble.

The Voices is a very dark comedy with lots of gore but not a lot of substance. What could have been a simple horror comedy gets bogged down in trying to add depth which only leaves unanswered questions and dark moments that don’t fit the rest of the film’s vibe.

The cast all do a great job of hamming it up for their roles, but my absolute favourite performance goes to the cat. Reynolds performs different voices for each of the voices his mind creates and assigns to a variety of animal, but his portrayal of the Scottish cat who encourages homicidal behaviour is by far the most entertaining.

The Voices had the potential to be a great film with high rewatchability, but it missed the mark and instead became an average film worth a watch if you’re in the mood for some gory humour you haven’t seen before.

Rating:

“Being alone in the world is the root of all suffering.”