CODA

"Do you know why god made farts smell? So deaf people could enjoy them too."

A joke told by a deaf father to his daughter who can hear. One of many lovingly crafted and deeply human moments in CODA (Child Of Deaf Adults), a new film available on Apple TV now.

Gloucester, Massachusetts, a fishing village on the Atlantic in the the north east of the USA. Life in the industry is tough as ever increasing margins cut into the money the fishermen break their backs for everyday. The Rossi's are one such fishing family. Father and son Frank (Troy Kotsur) and Leo (Daniel Durant) are out on the water and mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin) deals with the money side of the business. All three are deaf and communicate with the world through daughter Ruby (Emilia Jones), the only family member who can hear. There's constant pressure on her to support her family and bullies in school mocking their condition has turned her into an introvert. The one thing she can find time for is singing because she can practice in her house as loudly as she wants and a decision to join the school choir ran by Mr Villalobos (Eugenio Derbez, very entertaining) opens up a new path in life for her. But it's a path that might take her away from the people who need her the most. 

CODA's a film about the choices we make at critical junctures in our life. What matters, the past or the future? Some will go forward without a second thought, others will let fear of letting go tank their decisions but the lucky few will get the best of both worlds. CODA layers on an added element with it's look at a culturally deaf family (all played by deaf actors apart from Emilia Jones) and their struggle to deal with a world where everything is geared against them. Without Ruby they'll struggle but if she stays she'll be sucked into an adult life she doesn't want. They can't appreciate her gift and that fact kills her father Frank. Throw in the pressure her teacher Mr V is putting her under to fully utilise her voice and you have a story that sounds like a big ol' ball of stress.

But it's not. It's funny, it's upsetting, it's touching, it's complex. It's full of feeling but never feels forced or mawkish. Kudos to director Sian Heder for pulling that difficult trick off. It's a film about deaf people that isn't afraid to paint them as less than perfect. A lot of films about people with medical issues tend to portray them as angelic beings but here they're just as flawed, as selfish and angry as everyone else. A gorgeous vignette between mother and daughter sees Jackie telling Ruby about her hopes for Ruby early in her life and to a hearing audience what she says might sound harsh but to them it's a bonding experience that makes perfect sense both to them and in the context of the storyline. It will also remind you of just why Matlin won that Oscar 36 years ago for Children Of A Lesser God. If you make it through the moment without a tear in your eye you've a heart of stone.

Irish actor Ferdia Walsh Peelo turns up as classmate Miles, the reason Ruby signed up for choir. It's no big spoiler to say that they grow close throughout the film but their relationship is the only part of the story that feels superfluous. It's an aspect of the film that could have been easily lifted out leaving more time for that warm and loving depiction of the Rossi family life. They fight, they butt heads but there's a love and openness there that gives CODA real soul. Ruby signing for them in the doctors office and finding out way too much about her parent's love life. A brother sister argument from the heart where words feel like violence. A father and daughter sitting out under the stars and eventually a signed rendition of a famous song that will give you a smile a mile wide.

CODA is streaming online now. It's a lovely antidote to the CGI nonsense taking over the cinemas this summer.