Horror Movie Review: The Voices (2014)

“Friday I had a pretty cushy gig. Had lots of friends, I was the office hottie… now I’m a severed head in a fridge. Sucks to be me, Jerry.”

The Voices is a 2014 black comedy horror film directed by Marjane Satrapi, written by Michael R. Perry, and starring Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick and Jacki Weaver.

Jerry (Ryan Reynolds) works at a bathtub factory, and lives in a modified apartment above a bowling alley with his dog, Bosco, and his cat, Mr. Whiskers. Jerry has schizophrenia, but chooses not to take his medication. He enjoys delusions and hallucinations that manifest in the form of his pets talking to him. Bosco often represents his good intentions, while Mr. Whiskers represents his more violent nature. Jerry has a crush on his coworker Fiona, and asks her out on a date at a local Chinese dinner theater called Su Shen. She agrees to go, but stands him up to go to a karaoke party with two other women from work, Lisa and Alison.

Fiona’s car doesn’t start, leading her to flag down Jerry as he drives by. While driving her home, Jerry accidentally hits a deer, which crashes through his windshield. Jerry’s hallucinations show the deer begging him to put it out of its misery. Jerry does as told, using a hunting knife to cut its throat. Terrified, Fiona runs off into the woods. Jerry chases her, still carrying the knife, and tries to explain, but ends up tripping over Fiona, and accidentally stabbing her. Jerry tearfully apologizes for hurting her and says that he loves her. To end her pain, Jerry stabs her again, and she dies.

Upon returning home, Bosco suggests he go to the police and confess. While Mr. Whiskers says there is no shame in what he did, but insists Jerry needs to dispose of the body. Jerry collects Fiona’s body but leaves a bloody shoe and pile of organs. He dismembers Fiona, packing her innards in numerous Tupperware containers and placing her severed head inside his fridge. As his delusions increase in intensity, Fiona’s head comes to life and starts talking to him. Jerry attempts to apologize once again, but she rejects his apology, citing the good life she had before she died. Fiona then demands Jerry take his medication. Jerry takes his pills, and the next day, he experiences nightmares of his emotionally abusive father.

When he wakes up his hallucinations have ended; his pets no longer speak to him, his apartment is a mess, with animal waste and garbage littering his living room, and blood stains all over his kitchen. Fiona’s head no longer speaks and is foul and rotting. He throws away the pills in terror, and the next morning, his hallucinations return and his life is back to ‘normal’. Fiona tries to convince Jerry to kill another person “so she has a friend”.

Can Jerry keep it together or has he already gone too far? Watch and find out.

The Voices is a black comedy so fortunately it has a good comedic undertone. This keeps things relatively light considering how horrible everything actually is. You basically see everything through Jerry’s eyes and from his warped perspective so nothing seems as gruesome as they obviously are.

I very much enjoyed Ryan Reynolds performance. He often plays a lot of similar roles, especially these days but I found he showed a different side in The Voices. He has a good range and is clearly conflicted with his inner demons. Jerry is a sympathetic character despite his actions and you want to root for him. He’s mentally ill and has an addled mind so how responsible can he really be. You can tell he’s a good guy but he’s just gone off the deep end in terms of mental illness.

Additionally, everyone plays their parts and acts well. They all keep up the light and breezy façade during Jerry’s fantasies but equally show their terror during the moments of reality. The animals looked so realistic, I genuinely could believe they were talking. The gore you do see is realistic and very convincing, too.

Overall, The Voices is a great black horror comedy, it has an excellent contrast between fantasy and reality and is well shot. It could perhaps have had more character development but the back story we were privy to was dark enough. Lastly, the end credit scene was funny and weird as hell. I hope when I die I get lifted up to heaven on a forklift by Jesus.