Photo courtesy of Shudder
From instances in classic literature to modern comic books, the concept of one sense being heightened when another is taken away is not a new one in fiction. There are even real-life accounts of this happening: people who lose their sight, for example, have reported enhanced senses of hearing or smell. In Jeffrey A. Brown’s Shudder Original The Unheard, however, this idea is approached with a twist. The opposite happens to the main character of this film, and she gains a new sixth sense once her other senses are finally restored.
Chloe Grayden (Lachlan Watson) lost her hearing at the age of 8 during a battle with meningitis. She’s now in her 20s and fairly independent, but desperately wants to hear again. She decides to partake in an experimental procedure at the Northeast Eye and Ear Institute to restore her hearing and recover at her father’s house along the Cape, which is the last place she saw her mother before she vanished. While the procedure is a success and Chloe is able to hear again thanks to the revolutionary treatment she receives, it is not without its consequences. She begins to have auditory hallucinations that become increasingly distressing, and they seem to pertain to the mystery of her missing mother. Meanwhile, Chloe learns from locals that her mother isn’t the only woman who’s gone missing around her father’s residence — in fact, the town is notorious for women vanishing with no explanation.
One of the most compelling aspects of The Unheard is the bold sound design choices it makes. In order for the audience to better understand Chloe’s struggles with deafness, the filmmaker chooses to make the viewer “deaf” as well. Near the beginning of the film, there are long stretches where hardly any sound is heard outside of the occasional heartbeat or nondescript muffled noise. There are a few tactical moments where we’re pulled out of her world to communicate the story better, but for the most part, the audience barely hears anything for a while, and then it transitions back to the world in full volume when she can hear again, progressively introducing the strange sounds and voices she begins to hear into the mix.
This creative sound design works well in some regards, but unfortunately not all. While it’s an interesting choice, the first hour of the two-hour film is mostly uneventful – overly preoccupied with the miniscule details of Chloe’s everyday life to maintain interest. The lack of any sound whatsoever for a large chunk of this hour makes the first half of the film especially tedious to endure. It seems to have the ambition of an artsy “slow burn” horror film without the story or talent behind it to help it succeed.
Once the film becomes cognizant of an actual plot again in the second hour, it feels as though there are two films fighting for attention that don’t compliment each other well. Old, scanline-riddled VHS video footage from Chloe’s family’s past is shown in a creepy, jarring way as though it’s from the next installment of a new V/H/S sequel, meant to amplify the strange sounds Chloe is hearing, but it feels completely out of place with the rest of the narrative and aesthetic the film is presenting. Even when the film reaches its climax and is at the pinnacle of excitement, it feels stretched out and awkward rather than an organic, thrilling way to wrap up this story.
The Unheard has some interesting ideas behind it, but is mostly an exercise in patience with little to no payoff in the end. It lacks any sense of flow or pacing to keep an audience hooked for its bloated running time and has minimal stakes until the climax to give anyone a reason to care. Do yourself a favor and keep The Unheard unseen.
—Andrea Riley