There’s sub-genre of films that are released by major studios where the movie opens in less than 500 theaters. Compare the couple of hundred theaters for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel to the over a couple of thousand for Dark Shadows, both films released by majors, Warner Brothers for the latter and Fox Searchlight (a division of 20^th Century Fox) for the former. And then you can even dive deeper into that sub-genre with films released in limited engagements by major studios that have no name actors.

Case in point would Sound of My Voice, also handled by Fox Searchlight and mirroring their release last year of Another Earth. Like Another Earth, Sound of My Voice draws its staying power from a clever script with sci-fi overtones and an attractive cast many of whom we’ve never seen before. Both films were co-written and star Brit Marling, who could become the next indie darling.

Sound of My Voice posits that a meditation cult gets their mystique from a mysterious woman who has time traveled from 50 years in the future. Much of the film revolves around whether Maggie (Marling) is who she claims to be. Meanwhile, a pair of the film’s protags infiltrates the cult hoping to make a documentary about the group. Sound of My Voice is like a Möbius strip in the sense that it ends in a manner that implies that it has just begun. There were a couple of continuity issues, like how can people sitting in a circle not notice a metal device with a bright green light sitting in a bunch of white apple vomit? Overall the secret of the film seems valid and offers slivers of food for thought. Sound of My Voice is unwinding exclusively at the River Oaks Three.

- Michael Bergeron