In Oliver Hermanus’s period drama, “The History of Sound,” Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor play music lovers whose passions prove less tempestuous than isolating.

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 In Oliver Hermanus’s period drama, “The History of Sound,” Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor play music lovers whose passions prove less tempestuous than isolating. In the film, set during and after the First World War, passion is an intensely private thing, and in more ways than you might expect. “There’s little sense of hesitation, danger, or risk, which is initially refreshing; you sense that Hermanus wants his characters to live and love, at least in the moment, without fear,” writes Justin Chang. “But the romance also proceeds with a curious lack of sensual discovery and enveloping excitement—and certainly none of the fireworks that attended O’Connor’s work in ‘God’s Own Country’ or Mescal’s performance in ‘All of Us Strangers,’ to name two gay romances of wrenching, lingering emotional power.” Read Chang’s review of the film.

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