Movie Review: Hulu’s The Ultimate Playlist of Noise Inspires
What if one day you lost one of your senses, a limb, or your capacity to do something with your body? Okay, that is a really dark question and one we, often avoid. Yet, for the “able-bodied” their “ableness” feels like a given, which I wonder, sometimes, if it is why they pity the handicapped or ignore them totally. The idea of losing a “capacity” can feel tormenting in a world that is divided by haves and have-nots. Out on HULU January 15, grief and fear are the core of The Ultimate Playlist’s love story, courage, and hope.
Directed by Bennett Lasseter and written by Mitchell Winkie, The Ultimate Playlist follows Marcus (Keean Johnson) on his last month able to hear. Prepping up, emotionally, for the removal of a brain tumor, Marcus is informed that his loss of audio is an inevitable result from the “life-saving” surgery. Notice I put “life-saving” in quotes. For some, the idea of being “disabled” is a death sentence, but, for Marcus and many, life doesn’t stop, especially in possibility, because you lose a capacity. It is for this reason The Ultimate Playlist of Noise becomes so powerful and inspirational; it shows loss doesn’t mean an end. Thus, Johnson makes Marcus charmingly jovial and optimistic. He is the rare guy that is unmalicious and positive to his core, which is why you, as a viewer, will be so endeared by his journey. How does heartbreak hit a man with such a big heart? Well, for Marcus, it doesn’t strike hard enough for love or hope to fade. In fact, falling in love is, exactly, what he does with Madeline Brewer’s Wendy.
Wendy is an indie songstress that, definitely, comes with her own cool, 90’s soundtrack, and joins Marcus on his path to LISTEN to the world. On the road together, they are inspired by each other, and the film has a stunning way of making noise feel visual and like two good strangers can find and love each other. Brewer’s Wendy is an open heart, brimming with creativity, and she grows fascinated by Marcus’ ability to handle loss. She, a dreamer and singer with plans to head to New York and reach for stardom. Thus, Marcus is seemingly living her nightmare, but he embraces the inevitable with no time for tears: hence, the attraction.
The Ultimate Playlist of Noise is so bittersweet. You don’t want Marcus to lose, but you also wonder if you could ever gain a passion for life/ sound quite like him. Like Marcus, you close your eyes to hear the sounds and songs that pulse through surroundings. With Wendy joining him as she plans to head to New York and become a “star,” Marcus makes a playlist of sweet sounds to revel in. Frankly, I got sentimental as I saw Johnson’s Marcus literally taste every noise that nature and a good song had to offer him.
