Sound and Fury is a very important film about cochlear implants and the effect they can have on not only the recipient of the implant, but families and friends. The film follows the nuclear families of two brothers – one hearing (Chris) and one deaf (Peter). Chris is married to a hearing woman, with whom he has Peter, a deaf child. Among options explored are whether or not to implant their child. Peter is married to a deaf woman, with whom he has Heather, a deaf child. Heather begins communicating, one day, that she wants to hear the sounds of the world and that she wants an implant. But this is where the film takes a turn. The outlook each brother has on how to handle their situation is very different, as they’ve both been dealt a different set of life experiences. Both families explore options, neither jumps to any conclusion without consulting experts, family members, and friends. The reactions of the deaf community and the hearing community are very different.

One thing to take into consideration when watching the film is that there are two very extreme cases presented alongside each other. At one point, the term, “child abuse” is used to describe the actions of one of the family members, which I think is absolutely absurd. There is also a middle ground, but this is an incredibly documentary that I would recommend to anyone interested in deaf culture, cochlear implants, or even to someone who is just interested in documentaries in general.