Sound of Noise
Metascore
72 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
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  1. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    Mar 7, 2012
    91
    What binds the entertaining crime movie to its YouTube-ready musical interludes is the unspoken yearning of its two leads: he for the world of silence in which he'd rather live, and she for all the sounds that slip by every second, uncontrolled and unappreciated.
  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: David DeWitt
    Mar 8, 2012
    80
    What follows is a character study mixed with outlandish crime procedural. Everyone's quite serious about the joke, without a moment of Adam Sandler-style "look at how cute we are" that would only dilute the film's appeal. Sound of Noise is a dry treat - a solid, self-aware cult pleasure.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Sheri Linden
    Mar 8, 2012
    80
    Without pounding home its avant-garde cred, this fresh ode to found sound and the music of silence casts an amused gaze at careerism, classical-music reverence and notions of artistic purity and ends with a pitch-perfect change of tune.
  4. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Jesse Cataldo
    Mar 5, 2012
    75
    The film is ultimately winning because of its devilish anarchic streak, aiming its arrows at the stuffiness of the traditional musical establishment.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Peter Brunette
    Mar 4, 2012
    70
    The basic premise of this delightful comedy from Sweden is one of the most imaginative you'll ever see. It's all based on music -- raw, elemental and percussive -- out of which genuine laughs are wrung from beginning to end.
  6. Variety
    Reviewed by: Alissa Simon
    Mar 4, 2012
    70
    A delightful comic cocktail of modern city symphony, police procedural and love story.
  7. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    Mar 21, 2012
    67
    Unique to a fault, Sound of Noise is a daft police procedural, an absurdist comedy, a piece of metaphysical agitprop, a music-performance film with a bit of story attached, and/or none of the above.
  8. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Eric Hynes
    Mar 6, 2012
    60
    The backbeat anarchy is fun while it lasts, but without a persuasive purpose, it's all just noise in the end.
  9. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Melissa Anderson
    Mar 6, 2012
    50
    More an intriguing premise than a successful film, the Malmö-set Sound of Noise, about a group of "musical terrorists," quickly loses its novelty and becomes about as bold as a Swedish production of "Stomp."

User Reviews

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User Score
5.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Akuto
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. A visually pleasing and fairly entertaining movie, but it fails to deliver a coherent story with reasonable character motives. A bit long and fairly confusing due to things being left unexplained, such as why people "performed on" by the musical terrorists were inaudible to the tone deaf cop, or why these terrorists were doing it all in the first place.… Full Review »
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