The Film
Quiet, friendly Jerry (Ryan Reynolds) leads simple life. He has a simple job, but no friends. He does however have a dog and a cat, with whom he holds conversations (with the additional voices provides by Reynolds himself). A lovable, sensible dog (Bosco) and a rather controlling cat (Mr Whiskers).
Jerry also has a crush on a fellow worker Fiona (Gemma Arterton), and with the help of his psychiatrist, he tries to ask her out). Things however take a slight turn after Jerry is stood up by Fiona, and this sets him along a path of either striving for normalcy, or indulging the inner voices and embracing this new found thrill.
The Voices is a delightfully disturbing film. It’s tense, it’s strange, and it will make you squirm. This is not a film with cheap “jump scares”, nor is it one of those thrillers, racing against time. This starts off all sweet and innocent, much like Jerry himself, and slowly, carefully things begin to reveal themselves. It indulged the darker side of humanity, brushing up against the inner sociapath, and setting the demons free for a fun romp.
The differences between the world as perceived by Jerry and the real world, are as many as the minute idiosyncrasies. The journey we are taken on, that reveals all his many issues, is something to behold. You don’t quite realise the extent of Jerry’s psychosis until, as with those he targets, it is just too late.
The Voices is well written, well acted, and sure to put some thoughts into your mind about fellow co-workers.
Disc And Bonus Features
The disc is encoded at a high bitrate, so the image is clear and stable, with no visible artefacts on screen. Those with the necessary hardware or software can scale this up, should they desire.
Sound is presented in a 5.1 soundtrack, adding to the general confusion felt by Jerry, and further drawing the viewer into the on-screen action.
There are unfortunately no additional features on the disc, other than some trailers to other releases. The disc menu is basic, yet functional and easy to use.
The Voices is available now, for purchase, in South Africa.