Voices

In an unassuming Detroit motel room a stone’s throw from Motown Records, circa 1967, Jordan (Francis Edemobi), a starry-eyed bellhop with a song in his heart, shoots his shot after overhearing that an up-and-coming musical act is checking in ahead of their local debut. Enthusiastically waiting on them in the hopes that they will throw him a break, he is instead met with condescension and derision. But when an accident cuts the duo's career suddenly short, Jordan devises a brash plan to assume their identity and seize their gig.

Set almost entirely within the claustrophobic confines of a motel suite, director Deantè Gray’s remarkable and resourceful feature debut insightfully reflects the anxieties and frustrations of every artist who has the passion, but lacks the means. Further interrogating the pursuit of fame’s corrupting influence, Sam Buckner III and Charlie T. Savage’s nuanced and noir-ish script is profoundly enlivened by a riveting breakout performance from Edemobi, and supported by the terrific Ezekiel Ajeigbe and Raél Ba who portray reluctant co-conspirators to Jordan’s desperate con. Ajeigebe and Ba especially shine in the film’s infectious musical reveries composed by Buckner with Marcus Shaky and Kev Keys. These numbers endearingly crystalize the character’s emotions as any good musical should, and they are also certifiable bangers that effectively inhabit the soulful sound of the era.

A bonafide marvel of indie ingenuity, Voices was shot on a shoestring, but its ambition meets its grasp more often than most made at its scale. And in Gray, Buckner, Savage and their players, there is an auspicious band of talent to behold.

PETER KUPLOWSKY

Content advisory: accident trauma, drug use, violence