You’re All I Need to Get By. 4 / 5
Directed by Siân Heder.
As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
Well, I fell for this hook, line, and sinker.
CODA is a well-made and emotional piece with the best of intentions that follows Emilia Jones' Ruby as she dreams of a life of her own outside her family commitments. Ruby is the only hearing member of an entirely deaf family - A Child of Deaf Adults.
This film teeters on a fine line and though I found myself on the positive side, I can see why some find this drama controversial. As Ruby begins to build a life for herself outside of her family, her deaf relatives become a 'barrier' that holds her back using their disability as a plot device rather than a character trait.
But the film does treat its deaf characters (and actors) with the utmost respect, shining a light on their mistreatment in society and creating some of the most beautiful scenes of the year showing how they experience the world - sympathising not pitying.
With a charismatic and warming cast at the centre of its personable story, CODA lived up to its Sundance hype and then some.
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