Ryan Reynolds murders for his pets in the first trailer for The Voices

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

You may have heard of writer-director Marjane Satrapi’s film PERSEPOLIS, based on her autobiographical graphic novel. The animated film was nominated for several awards and seemed to herald Satrapi as a new voice in filmmaking. Her first live action film, THE VOICES, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival last year to mediocre reviews. Now, we have the first trailer for the film before it hits on demand next month.

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Anna Kendrick, Gemma Arterton, and Jacki Weaver, THE VOICES seems like the type of film that would be getting a wider release. That is until you realize the movie features talking animals and decapitated heads.

Jerry (Ryan Reynolds) is an upbeat man with a sugary view of the world. He is also mentally ill, and has been avoiding taking his prescribed anti-psychotic medication. He hallucinates that his cat is telling him to be a serial killer, while his dog argues against the cat and insists that he is good. When Jerry starts reluctantly taking his medication again, he starts experiencing brief moments of lucidity in which he realizes that the reality of his life is already far more violent than he had perceived it to be.

I cannot say that THE VOICES looks like a great movie, but it definitely looks like a black comedy that would play better at home than in a movie theater. I think Ryan Reynolds is a likeable actor. I also think he gets shit on way too much. This may not be the best work of his career but it definitely doesn’t look like anything else I have seen. For that, I will give it a shot.

THE VOICES opens in limited release and On Demand beginning February 6, 2015.