Unlikely situations in which our lead is forced to choose between the two most important things in her life? Check, check, check, check, and check again. The prickly teacher who transforms into an encouraging mentor? Check. But after establishing its world and characters, which feel both distinct and lived-in, the script falls into the familiar story beats of teen and family dramas you’ve seen before. It will move you to tears and still send you off with hope, and goodness knows most of us could use that these days. “Sentimental” and “feel-good” are not pejorative descriptors for me-in fact, I think those qualities are part of why CODA is easy to recommend. CODA may have a different premise than most of the Best Picture nominees before it, but at its heart, it’s a standard coming-of-age story.Īnd t hat is the film’s biggest weakness. We’ve had teachers challenge us beyond our comfort zones, and we’ve made hard choices about our futures. If not that, then we’ve been embarrassed by our parents in front of a high school crush (in this film, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) or felt burdened by their expectations. Most of us who watch this movie will not be deaf (much less CODAs), but we’ve struggled to find identities apart from our families. CODA is both a celebration of deafness and of music, of tight-knit families and of finding your individual voice. Those are the movie’s greatest joys for us as well. Only Ruby suffers from angst about her place in this world, and it stems from the greatest joys in her life: her family and her talent. Well, most of them-the deaf members face practical challenges with a world not considerate of their differences, but they’re comfortable with their identities and relationships.
But while Sound of Metal focused on its main character’s angst about being different, losing his career, and coping without drugs, the Rossi family knows who they are. Like last year’s Sound of Metal, CODA invites its viewers into a differently abled community than we usually see (or hear) on screen.
But when she’s at school, Ruby dreams of joining the choir and becoming a singer with the help of her music teacher (Eugenio Derbez)-how can she pursue her dream and support her family? When she’s not at school, she’s handling communication between her family and the rest of the world, including the Massachusetts fishing community their family works with. Her parents (Troy Kotsur, Marlee Matlin) and her older brother (Daniel Durant) are deaf (as are the actors playing them), and Ruby is the family’s primary translator. CODA may be an unlikely Oscar contender, but it’s no surprise it’s a fan favorite.ĬODA is an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults, and Ruby (Emilia Jones) is one of them.
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