Tina Kakadelis
People will go to great lengths to chase fame, even just for a taste. Countless people long for those fifteen minutes without realizing they’ll really only get five seconds, and that’s if they’re lucky. Director Deanté Gray’s Voices, which played as part of the Discovery program at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a single-setting musical about the cost of pursuing fame. It’s an original musical that also tackles a bit of a crime angle before it reaches its final crescendo.
Jordan (Francis Edemobi) works as a bellhop at the Tropicana Motel in Detroit. It’s 1967 and Jordan, like so many others, dreams of becoming a famous Motown act. He and his cousin Derrick (Ezekiel Ajeigbe) have a demo, but no one to share it with. When the Harmony Brothers (Joe Maye & Jamal Averett) check into the motel where Jordan works, he sees it as a chance for someone in the business to hear his music. An accident occurs in the Harmony Brothers’ motel room and Jordan, unsure of what to do, calls Derrick and Derrick’s girlfriend, Mia (Raél Ba), to figure out what’s next.
Voices is unlike much else playing at TIFF. For starters, it’s one of the few musicals at the festival. Perhaps both more important and inspiring, Voices is rumored to have been made for $50,000. In the world of movies, $50,000 amounts to almost nothing, but there are moments when the viewer can tell the budget played a role. The (mostly) single setting, the out-of-place, anachronistic items in the background, and some sound issues are noticeable, but they cannot dampen the passion on display.
Ever since Obsession premiered at TIFF last year, Hollywood has been clamoring for filmmakers who can do a lot with a little. Even so, Obsession’s Curry Barker was working with close to a $1 million budget. Even if the rumored budget for Gray’s musical chamber thriller doubled, Voices still proves ingenuity is priceless. Most of the film takes place in one room at the Tropicana Motel, but it’s not any more claustrophobic than the script needs to be. Gray wants the audience to feel like they’re in the same pressure cooker as his characters, so we, too, are trapped within these four walls. It’s a clever, money-saving production method.
As exciting a selling point as “chamber musical” is for some people, it’s also Voices’ downside, just not at first. The film features half a dozen songs, some of them Motown music performed by the Harmony Brothers. Their hit song makes more than a few appearances throughout, and it’s certainly a toe-tapper. It also hints at Jordan’s story arc. “This is for the dreamers who struggle, who refuse to leave.” Jordan is going to take this chance for fame, and everyone around him will have to pry it from his cold, dead hands to stop him. Another standout song is Jordan’s version of a traditional “I Want” musical song, the selection in which the main character vocalizes their desires. It acts as a compass for who this person is and what they’ll pursue for the rest of the musical.
The remaining songs of Voices leave something to be desired. Long stretches pass with no one singing, and it’s easy to forget this was billed as a musical. All the actors have strong vocals, and it’s exciting to hear them sing, but the songs are forgettable and repetitive. Many modern film musicals take a similar stream-of-consciousness approach, which makes these song scenes feel circuitous. Traditional musicals use their song selections to allow the audience to hear interior thoughts of characters or to move the plot along. Voices’ songs, aside from the two previously praised selections, tell the audience what they already know. In this context, the limitations of the one-room setting are felt most. Even if the songs weren’t pushing the plot along, bigger, more elaborate performances could easily hide that.
Voices is an example of why more filmmakers should be taking risks. Even though not all the songs in the film work, it’s still more exciting than any reboot, remake, or sequel of some nostalgic IP could ever hope to be. The pursuit of fame may be an ugly road, but Voices has a pretty tune to sing.
