Entertainment
Rebecca Hall’s ‘The Listeners’ Is a Quietly Unsettling Thriller That Gets Under Your Skin
From lost civilizations to haunting conspiracy theories, some of our world’s greatest mysteries have often teased the limits of human understanding. But as these puzzles challenge our perceptions to stir our deepest fears, they also invite us to ask more questions. Unraveling that puzzle through nuanced storytelling is The Listeners, a provocative series that centers around a woman who begins to hear low-humming sounds that no one else can. The four-part series, set to air on Starz this week, starring Rebecca Hall, is based on the bestselling and award-winning novel of the same name by Jordan Tannahill. Following its highly anticipated Toronto International Film Festival premiere in 2024, the show will no doubt become one of the year’s most thought-provoking and unsettling series yet.
As an atmospheric exploration of human connection and isolation, The Listeners embraces the ethereal tension of The Leftovers and the psychological depth of Sharp Objects to examine the human experience through silence. With the book set up as a memoir and inspired by the strange, low-frequency reverberations in Windsor, Ontario, the BBC-produced series finds a refreshing nuance in its television adaptation. Produced by Element Pictures, the studio behind Normal People and Poor Things, and directed by Janicza Bravo (Poker Face and Zola), the series manages a sharp, important commentary on how loneliness compels us to seek meaning in the unknown — or in this case, the inexplicable. Through its main character Claire, played arrestingly by Hall, The Listeners offers a strong tableau of isolation and how the search for connection can distort even the simplest of perceptions.
What Is ‘The Listeners’ About?
The Listeners stars Hall as Claire, an English teacher who is the only person hearing a low-humming sound. Much like the show’s pace, which aligns with a slow-burning drama, the sound she hears starts gradually. It’s present, but it’s not exactly taking up too much space in Claire’s life. However, things take an abrupt turn, and the seemingly innocuous noise begins to upset the balance she has created for herself and her family. Claire, who is also a doting mother to Ashley (Mia Tharia) and a loving wife to Paul (Prasanna Puwanarajah), begins to find the noise ruining a lot of her daily rhythms. At times, she feels she might have imagined it. But the noise and its high frequency begin to manifest in the form of nose bleeds, leaving Claire with a lot more questions. As she investigates with doctors and conducts tests, they suggest she might have tinnitus or a hypersensitivity to white noise — an issue seen in patients with anxiety and stress.
Here, the mystery begins, unraveling Claire’s layers to offer more about her through a naturally quiet disposition and interaction with others. With her frustrations starting to show, no one can help — that is until one of her students, a 17-year-old boy named Kyle (Ollie West) reveals he can too hear the sound. Taking solace in their shared isolation, the two strike up an unlikely (and dangerous) friendship and investigate the sound together. With the noise becoming more apparent, the two become increasingly separated from their family, friends, and colleagues and join a group of neighbors who also allegedly hear the sound led by Jo (Gayle Rankin) and Omar (Amr Waked), a couple that delivers strong cult vibes. The pair believes it’s important to lean into “The Hum” and treat it like a gift. Naturally, as Claire and Kyle’s friendship grows, so does doubt from the outside, causing perception to become reality.
Rebecca Hall Is at the Top of Her Game in ‘The Listeners’
The Listeners isn’t just a slow-burn drama with a quiet, eerie temperament. As Tannahill is at the forefront of the adaptation’s layered screenplay, the series captures Claire’s growing obsession with the sound in a dynamic, captivating style. With a psychological toll woven delicately into every scene and interaction, it’s a testament to Hall’s natural magnetism as a performer that draws you into every moment. Whatever Claire is feeling or thinking in those lonely scenes alongside the hum, we are right there with her. Able to convey a deep, conflicted demeanor and apprehension, Hall shows us what it feels like through her eyes, the furrow of her brow, or even a slight frown that speaks deeply to her modest, quiet desperation for answers.
Hall is masterful and profoundly focused on a performance that adds to the story’s haunting tale of isolation, longing, and faith. As an actress known for moving seamlessly between roles that demand intensity and vulnerability, like The Prestige or The Night House, Hall is at the top of her game in The Listeners. With an emotional profundity unseen in previous performances, she immerses herself into a world that deftly manages the complexities of loneliness and confusion with masterful fortitude. In those moments when it’s just her versus the hum, how she commands the scene to rely on subtlety speaks to the strength of her craft. When Claire sees doctors with her husband Paul, the tattered sophistication of her anxieties bubble to the surface to create inner tension between the couple, and bring out another side of the performer. While only two episodes were made available to the press, Hall’s undeniable screen presence through Claire’s quiet intensity lingers with you long after.
‘The Listeners’ Leans Into Obsessions Through Sharp Subtlety
As the novel and its adaptation capture so much of Claire’s growing obsessions with sounds that ultimately isolate her, the series leans into such compulsion through quiet subtleties. It’s this kind of implicitness that is not only central to the story but its understanding of loneliness through Claire. Through the gnawing mania that afflicts her, we can recognize how these hauntings are a bit of a gateway for her, especially in how she spends time with Kyle. Sure, she’s driving away the people who love her the most and making some bad choices about it, but she’s also opening her eyes to new challenges that speak to a reshaping of her identity.
This obsession with the faintest of noises sends the loudest message about Claire’s state of mind, hinting at something deeper that haunts her and distorts her current role. She loves her family, her friends, and her job, but her obsession with “the hum” implies a deeper, more destructive gap in her connection to herself that highlights her emotional and mental welfare. In many ways, Claire’s actions are intentional, and her fixation speaks to a deeper need for building meaningful relationships and connections. It’s easy to empathize with her because she is relatable, but her increasing paranoia detaches her from reality, leading to intense interactions and often destructive behavior that unveils some deeper truths.
The trio discusses honoring their real-life counterparts, why Sachs considers this an action movie, and future projects in the works.
Bravo, who is known for boundary-pushing work in Zola and Poker Face, levels up her signature style of alienation in The Listeners. Challenging conventional storytelling through gritty realism and vibrant visuals that align with an arthouse sensibility, the director’s work here exemplifies her unique voice. Like her earlier work in Lemon, Bravo infuses her characters with a lush theatrical sense that also highlights strong, gripping emotional complexities. It’s this kind of intimacy and character-driven core that feeds so much of Hall’s performance.
Emerging as a masterful exploration of isolation and obsessions, The Listeners creates a rich tapestry of existential tension through Hall’s knack for embodying a strong, emotional spirit. Thanks to the familiar writing of Tannahill’s novel with sharp nuance, the BBC production captures the subtleties of human connection and detachment that distort our understanding of reality. Accompanied by a spirited supporting cast, Hall delivers an exceptional performance — a career-best among a plethora. With the series intertwining the psychological depths of loneliness with the eerie presence of the inexplicable “hum,” the four-part series works to provoke strong reflections on shades of isolation, perception, and the fragility of our connections. It’s illuminating and interesting in the best ways, and with more to unravel as Claire discovers the origins of the hum, The Listeners solidifies its place as one of the year’s most thought-provoking dramas.
- Genre
-
Drama
- Language
-
English
- Debut Date
-
September 7, 2024
- The Listeners is a deeply layered, introspective series with strong direction from Janicza Bravo.
- Rebecca Hall is a true standout, conveying quiet desperation and subtle intensity.
- As a compelling mystery, Jordan Tannahill preserves his novel?s subtle nuances and psychological tension while offering a fresh perspective in its television format.
- The series is rather slow, but the build-up to the hum and its presence is tackled almost immediately.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login