THE HAUNTING “SOUND OF MY VOICE”

THE HAUNTING “SOUND OF MY VOICE”

Since  paranoia is so immediate these days (remember when everybody said the same thing about free-floating anxiety) a low-budget film such as “Sound of My Voice” arrives like a fresh dispatch from conspiracy theorists hard-wired to the truth.

At the heart of every Velcro-minded devotee clinging to some outrageous cult leader is the need to believe in something special. Perhaps, to get in on the ground floor of the world’s newest religion. To be a good pal of the very person with superpowers who will rise up one day to save the world from itself.

New director Zal Batmanglij has excellent instincts and the courage to follow them in layering his film with seductive qualities of philosophy, need and magic to create the aura of an equally needy cult leader who is blessed with the talent of manipulation.

Charismatic and blond Brit Marling takes the unassuming name of Maggie and represents herself as a time traveler from the year 2054, where a horrific civil war has driven her back to the past. Maybe there is more information in a detailed study of the script by Batmaglij and Marling, but basically it seems like Maggie hopes to do something that will spare the world from this game-ending wave of self-destruction.

The film score by Rostam Batmanglij adds an edgy electronic element of somewhat futuristic pop music (the year 2054 is only 42 years from now). But Maggie the tragic beauty with an ephemeral presence has so little natural immunity to all the diseases around her she can only eat organic food. For animal protein, Maggie gets injected with the blood of her followers,

(Whether or not such a thing is even possible from a healthy blood standpoint simply doesn’t matter…that image of the followers using their own blood to keep their leader alive is priceless.)

Enter the intrepid young documentary filmmakers Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius), dedicated nay-sayers who want to expose the cult and its bogus time-traveling leader by being accepted as members.

The plot is simple enough. Through the eyes of Peter and Lorna we learn the cult’s elaborate security checks and ceremonies led by Maggie. There are several complications as Peter and Lorna keep getting drawn deeper into the cult’s creepy rites and New Age attitudes.

This long build-up works so well, the resolution is a bit disappointing.

But maybe not. There is talk there may be a sequel that will reveal more of Maggie’s secrets.

Mostly “Sound of My Voice” (a title that has no apparent connection to the movie) is about the atmosphere of doubt and hope that haunts every conspiracy theorist. The truth is never what it seems. True agendas are always hidden.

But surely, sooner or later, a visionary will appear who is telling the truth.