“CODA” also stands as the biggest Sundance acquisition ever, courtesy of Apple, which picked it up for $25 million. “Coda” smashed the Sundance sales record just a year after “Palm Springs” did the same, courtesy of Hulu and Neon’s estimated $20 million buy. Per the film’s official synopsis: “Gifted with a voice that her parents can’t hear, 17-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the sole hearing member of a deaf family — a CODA, which means a Child of Deaf Adults. Her life revolves around serving as an interpreter for her fun-loving but sometimes embarrassing parents (Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur) and working on the family’s struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother (Daniel Durant). But when Ruby joins her high school’s choir club, she discovers a gift for singing and finds herself drawn to her duet partner Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). With help from her supporting, if tough-loving choirmaster (Eugenio Derbez), Ruby is encouraged to apply to a prestigious music school. However, she finds herself torn between taking care of her family and chasing her dreams.”
From IndieWire’s Kate Erbland’s rave review out of Sundance: “There’s little surprising about the shape of director Sian Heder’s latest feature: It’s a family drama and a coming-of-age tale that combines familiar beats about finding yourself, breaking free of your family, and making plenty of mistakes along the way into one tear-jerking package. Yet what ‘CODA’ lacks in storytelling originality, it more than makes up for with other touches of ingenuity. Chief among them is that it’s a film that focuses on a deaf family and treats their woes as being just as worthy — and relatable — as innumerable other stories that, at least, initially feel just like it.” “CODA” will debut in theaters and on Apple TV+ on Friday, August 13. Watch the new official trailer for the movie in the video below.
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