Line #13 Film/SoundOfMyVoice


1	''Sound of My Voice'' is a 2011 American thriller directed by Zal Batmanglij and starring Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius and Creator/BritMarling. It was co-written by Batmanglij and [[DescendedCreator Marling]].
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3	The plot concerns a couple, Peter and Lorna, who are trying to film an indie documentary on cults. They get themselves recruited into a mysterious cult led by Maggie, who claims to be a time traveler from a post-apocalyptic future. Things don't go as planned.
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5	!!This film features the following tropes:
6	* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler:Was Maggie really from the future or not? There's evidence on either side]].
7	* BecomingTheMask: Peter wants to expose Maggie, but the further along he gets, the more of a true believer he becomes.
8	* ChekhovsSkill: Subverted when Lorna is taught how to shoot a pistol and proves to be a crack shot. [[spoiler:She rejects the cult, and there is no violence from her or the cult members. It just makes the cult seem creepier and more dangerous]]. Played straight with the SecretHandshake.
9	* ClingyJealousGirl: Lorna becomes upset the moment she notices that Peter is getting attracted to Maggie.
10	* {{Cult}}: Maggie is the spiritual leader of a cult, claiming to be from the post-apocalyptic year 2054, and is recruiting followers to help rebuild society. Peter's mother was in a cult and died because of its prohibition against Western medicine, which is why he, at first, wants to expose Maggie's cult.
11	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Peter and Lorna each get flashback montages of their backgrounds, establishing their motives for making the film.
12	* ExtremeOmnivore: Maggie has her followers eat live earthworms to show their commitment and to teach them to be ready to eat anything when resources are limited.
13	* FormerTeenRebel: Lorna had her first hangover at 12. She lived an early life of decadence before straightening out and trying to become a writer/filmmaker.
14	* GodivaHair: When Maggie emerges naked from a bath tub, her long blonde hair covers her breasts.
15	* InformedAttractiveness: Lorna notes that Maggie is attractive and suspects that Peter is developing feelings for her.
16	* InLoveWithTheMark: Lorna accuses Peter that he's falling for Maggie near the movie's end.
17	* KidFromTheFuture: Maggie claims that she is one. [[spoiler: Specifically, the kid of one of Peter's students.]]
18	* LeftHanging: The viewer is left questioning just about everything:
19	** [[spoiler:Is Maggie really from the future, and is Abigail her mother? If so, why couldn't she think of a single song that was written after 2010?]]
20	** [[spoiler:What's wrong with Abigail? Why does she seem to have narcolepsy? Why does she always wear a hat? Why does she build strange sculptures solely from black legos? What kind of shots was her father giving her? Did she need them?]]
21	** [[spoiler:Was Carol really from the Justice Department? If so, why does she smuggle her files in clothing boxes? Why does she screen her hotel room for bugs? Why didn't any of the police who arrested Maggie stay around to take statements from anyone else at the scene?]]
22	* MindScrew: Did Maggie really came from the future? The entire film never dips into fantasy territory, but the final scene heavily implies she really did.
23	* NakedOnArrival: Maggie wakes up naked on a bathtub after she time traveled, or so she says.
24	* NotSoAboveItAll: Maggie casually reveals to Peter that she smokes.
25	* SecretHandshake: Cult members must learn and perform an elaborate secret handshake before any audience with Maggie. It turns out that this handshake was [[spoiler:invented by Maggie's "mother," who is a small child in the current year. It's left ambiguous as to whether this is really how Maggie knows the handshake]].
26	* SecretCircleOfSecrets: Maggie's cult is very secretive. Only a select few know where she is located. It's not clear how they recruit their members, as people who join have no idea what they're joining.
27	* SeriousBusiness: The elaborate SecretHandshake required from each member has sequences that look like a typical "patty cake" children's game. In fact, [[spoiler:the handshake was invented by a child]].
28	* ShoutOut: When asked to sing a song from the future, Maggie sings "Dreams" by Music/TheCranberries. When called out on it, she explains that she doesn't know when the song was first written, but it's popular in her time.
29	* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Maggie doesn't claim that she or her followers can stop the apocalypse. All she says she wants to do is recruit followers who will be able to survive in the world that follows.
30	* TimeTravel: Maggie claims she's from the year 2054, which is a post-apocalyptic future. She never explains ''how'' she traveled back in time, saying that she only remembers waking up in a bath tub in the recent past.
31	* TitleDrop: Maggie drops the words of the title in one of her sermons.

Context Film / SoundOfMyVoice