Tiny Little Voices

The debut feature by writer-director Chris Rogers, Tiny Little Voices feels like the great British fever-dream. On its surface, a feel-good romcom about a woman who can’t seem to get out of her own head; a person who hears voices uttered by comically inclined inanimate objects. And... *said in Gary Marshall movie trailer voice* she may find her perfect man where she least expects him. But here’s the flip side to that coin: it’s a movie about Covid. Specifically, a comedy about Covid... and boy does it have some odd things to say about Covid!

Right off the bat, here’s what’s uniquely great about Tiny Little Voices: it accurately, if not with piercing astuteness, captures the feeling of that mid-lockdown psychological break. I’m sure many will feel represented by the mental coping mechanism of speaking your heart out to an audience of an empty room. And it’s super funny and well-done! We have hundreds of voices coming in and out, anthropomorphising her household in some incredibly amusing ways. It’s emblematic of the kind of beautiful chaos this movie offers to its unsuspecting audience.

The viewer’s feelings for these playful characteristics may though conflict with the slightly troublesome Covid-humour. Much of this story centers around characters trying to convince other characters to, to put it bluntly, stop being... germophobic? This is simply not humorous or relatable to most, and I must say that it stings a little to see ‘comedy’ sequences involving one person laughing at another’s cartoonishly exaggerated germ awareness. Whatcha trying to say, movie? Viewers can come to their own conclusions.

A few technical highs include the audio which is clean and consistent throughout. This is quite the achievement when you consider the sheer variety of location-types featured throughout, yet the level of smoothness behind the soundtrack gives the impression that the sound department know how to do their jobs. And on a visual level, whilst it’s not the most stunning film, it is, importantly, pretty damn consistent. There’s care behind this production, and it’s nice to see London shot so lovingly in these authentic locations.

But ultimately, the reason we’re engaged throughout the piece’s two-hour runtime is due to the performances which feel genuinely tone-appropriate, unembarrassed, and unapologetically entertaining across the board. A lot of praise should be attributed to the main four cast members and their devotion to sincere, cartoonish fun – whom, it should be noted, also have the range for some convincing romantic scenes (ooh la la). But the supporting players are terrific as well. A delightful bunch!

Audiences may very well enjoy most every scene of this movie, and still leave their viewing thinking to themselves, “what a strange thing for a person to make!” I say this with no judgement as someone who has made a great many films which elicit such a reaction. What makes it particularly strange, however, is the fact that it’s not a surreal film (though it has surreal elements); it’s not meant for a provocative arthouse screening – in fact, you could say with how much of a kooky romp this is, it couldn’t feel further from those territories. And yet, there’s no getting around the fact that this picture holds some deeply bizarre messaging and is socially at odds with its own aesthetic motivations. Many will inevitably find great joy in many a moment, as did this critic. But nevertheless, what a strange thing for a person to make!