This review originally ran on March 14, 2022, during the SXSW Film Festival

32 Sounds is unlike any other documentary in the SXSW lineup. For one, headphones are strongly encouraged. This is a highly sensory film and to achieve the filmmaker’s intended impact, audience members are to fully immerse themselves into the sonic landscape by wearing headphones. Also, this is the only film I’ve ever watched that encourages you to close your eyes.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Green (The Weather Underground) is the man in charge of leading us through this journey through sound. His voice is eerily similar to Owen Wilson’s (since we’re paying such close attention to detail, I couldn’t help but notice this uncanny resemblance). He, along with JD Samson (Le Tigre, MEN)–who also provides original music for the film–provides an interactive cinematic experience to illustrate the importance of sound, its history, and how it can shape the world around us.

Sound is the first sense we develop. We unconsciously are attuned to what we hear when in the womb; we may be alone, but we are still connected to the world through the sounds we hear. To illustrate this point, the audience is asked multiple times throughout the film to close their eyes and just listen to the audio that’s being pumped into our headphones. “Sound is an energy channel,” Sam states, as we explore 32 distinct sounds throughout the course of the film.

Taking us back to Thomas Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877, Sam explains that prior to this technology, once you died, your voice was gone forever. Since its creation and accessibility over time, we are able to “play sounds of the dead” by listening to music from record players, CD players, and streaming apps, with unlimited potential for the future.

Continuing our sonic journey through the senses, we’re introduced to avant-garde composer Annea Lockwood who’s most famous for her Piano Burning performance. At 81 years old at the time of filming, we see Lockwood is still just as fascinated with the sounds of the natural world, and her awe easily fills us with awe as well.

We round out the film with a visit to a foley artist’s studio and watch her create cues for film and TV, manipulating various objects to sound like different objects. We’re also given a slightly amateur yet still entertaining education on the difference between binaural sound vs surround sound (again, the headphones come in handy here).

32 Sounds is a unique watch that feels like it belongs in a museum rather than a traditional movie theatre. Its interactive nature is engaging from start to finish, and well worth a watch if you’re interested in a meditative approach to understanding the auditory sense.

Distributed by Abramorama. Playing in select theaters this Friday, April 28, 2023.