Summary
Heavily tattooed drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) and singer-guitarist girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke) are touring America in an old Airstream trailer as the punk-metal band Blackgammon when Ruben experiences ringing in his ears and then muffled quietness. A doctor (Tom Kemp) conducts urgent tests, which reveal Ruben is registering less than 30% of spoken words. Health insurance doesn't cover expensive cochlear implants and Ruben teeters on the brink of a downward spiral into drug abuse after four years of hard-fought sobriety. He begrudgingly enrols in a residential programme for deaf recovering addicts run by Vietnam War veteran Joe (Paul Raci), who expects Ruben to learn American Sign Language and acknowledge that being deaf is not a handicap