Marlee Matlin locked in her Oscar 35 years ago for Children of a Lesser God. The film was groundbreaking as it put a deaf actress front and center, letting her tell her story as she truly knows it. This year, she enters the awards season buzz with a work of equal stature: CODA, from AppleTV+. The streamer drafted a team of deaf actors to bring an often overlooked story about deaf culture to the screen. And with significant wins at the Critics Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the Producers Guild Awards, it's looking more and more likely that CODA could be the one to beat when it comes to the Best Picture race on Sunday, March 27.
CODA (which stands for child of deaf adults) follows Ruby (Emilia Jones) as the only hearing member of her family. The Rossis are a tight-knit crew living in Gloucester, Massachusetts and running a fishing business that Ruby helps out with. But when her own passion for choir starts to grow, she's torn between the family life she's always known and the hobby that brings her joy.
Beloved by critics, the film got a massive bump with viewers after nabbing two awards at the Screen Actors Guild awards—Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, and the biggie, Best Cast in a Motion Picture—earlier in 2022.
A testament to the film's quality, it has earned this attention even without over the top dramatics. There are no fictionalized life and death stakes, no massive budget. Instead, CODA tells a deeply intimate story about a family navigating two different worlds at the same time. Unfortunately, for those who like to have options, CODA is only available on Apple TV+ (the company purchased the film at Sundance and restricts it to Apple only). That is, unless you can catch a theatrical run, which is happening in limited theaters around the country right now.
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