Spoilers ahead for The History of Sound. 

Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor wanted their love story in The History of Sound to feel “rich” for audiences, “something you would miss when they’re not together.”

Directed by Oliver Hermanus, the sweeping romantic drama stars Mescal and O’Connor as David and Lionel, two men who meet in 1917 while attending the New England Conservatory of Music and later travel together after World War I to record folk songs of their countrymen in rural Maine.

Based on two short stories by Ben Shattuck — The History of Sound and Origin Stories — the film premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or and received critical acclaim for Hermanus’ direction and the lead performances of Mescal and O’Connor.

Ahead of its UK release on 23 January, Hermanus tells Gay Times that he wanted to adapt Shattuck’s work due to the “quality of the experience,” describing the stories as “incredibly moving and human and profoundly and deeply felt.” He jokes: “I mean, I haven’t cried since 1987, but if I could cry, I would’ve cried if I read the short story.”

Shattuck, whose stories form the basis of the film, reflects on the translation from page to screen. “It was such a privilege. When you're writing a short story, you can describe everything: how a character's moving his hand, what the light looks like as it passes through a window in a bar, what things sound like. But when you're writing a screenplay, it's such a light touch. All you have is describing where they are and what they're saying. And so everything else is given to the actors.

Josh O'Connor and Paul Mescal