‘Voices’ Review: Singing Through Fear and Anxiety in a Detroit-Set Musical Thriller

Filmmaker Deanté Gray mixes two genres, the crime thriller and the musical, in unexpected ways in his Toronto-premiered debut.

By Murtada Elfadl

Murtada Elfadl

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Despite the generic title, “Voices” is quite the novelty. Mixing the rarely combined genres of chamber thriller and musical, the film takes place almost entirely in one location — a Detroit motel room in 1967 — and focuses on just three characters. The actors start singing at the most tense moments, puncturing the perception that, in musicals, characters only break into song to express positive feelings like joy or love. Filmmaker Deanté Gray successfully holds the audience’s attention through this apparent mismatch of genres.

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