Early in the morning, she works on her family’s fishing boat, sorting fresh-caught haddock from the boots that get stuck in their net and, as the only hearing member of the Rossis, helping translate sign language to vendors onshore.
It won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, generating enough buzz to be acquired by Apple TV+ for a record-breaking sum.
Whereas Heder’s debut film, Tallulah, was interesting if overwrought, CODA finds the right balance of melodrama and mundane detail.
Ruby joins her high school’s choir mostly to impress a boy she has a crush on.
Marlee Matlin, the only deaf actor to have won an Oscar, does unsurprisingly solid work as Ruby’s mother, Jackie; the less-well-known Troy Kotsur is a revelation as her father, Frank, a bearded grump whose affection for his daughter runs deep.
Heder mines realistic tension from these rich characters bouncing off one another, as personal drama and workplace annoyances mount, until the predictable and yet satisfying final act—a set piece at a concert likely to choke up the most cynical viewer.