REVIEW:

The Silent Movie Tribute What? Has a Higher Purpose

by James Jay Edwards April 8, 2022

 At last weekend’s Academy Awards, those who weren’t talking about Will Smith angrily slapping Chris Rock or Lady Gaga sweetly helping out Liza Minelli were roaring about CODA winning every award it was up for, including Best Picture. CODA, which stands for Children of Deaf Adults, deserved the win, and it was made even more special by the fact that three of the four leads are deaf (and one of them, Troy Kotsur, made history by becoming the first deaf performer to win Best Supporting Actor), a fact which plays into the heartfelt story.

While we may not see a ton more movies made by and for deaf people, there probably will be an uptick after this win. And some of them, like The Maucere Brothers’ What?, may even up the ante.

What? is about a deaf actor named Don (John Maucere, who also co-wrote the script and co-produced the movie) who is struggling to get by in Hollywood. He has a one-man show at a local theater but finds getting roles in movies a challenge because of his disability. When he lands an audition with a director named Jamie (Josh Breslow) to play a deaf character, he thinks he’s got it made. Jamie has other plans, though, asking Don to do everything—from taxiing his own hard-of-hearing cousins around town to actually coaching the other actors in sign language—except act in his movie.

What? is a bit of an experiment. It’s essentially a silent movie, presented in black and white, with script directions for narration. This is by design, as writer/director Alek Lev and co-writers John Maucere and D.J. Kurs are all big fans of the classic films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and, honestly, it is an effective and organic way to tell a story about a deaf character.

A little background—both John Maucere and Kurs are deaf, as is John’s brother, Paul, who is another producer on the project. Lev can hear, but has worked extensively with The National Theater of the Deaf and The Deaf West Theater, and is an American Sign Language interpreter who, according to his press bio, has worked for three presidents, two Broadway shows, and one Beatle. All of the deaf roles in What? are played by deaf actors, and many of the crew members were hard-of-hearing as well. So, on the inclusion and representation scale, What? is off the charts. No one can say this unit doesn’t understand the content.

What? is a comedy. There’s no mistake about that. It’s a good natured and fun movie, and it’s downright hysterical at times, but its humor is eye-opening. The lack of dialogue (and even captioning) puts the viewer in Don’s head, and you experience all of his frustration and exasperation of not being able to communicate with the world around him. The feeling is even heightened by the inclusion of other types of sign language besides ASL (Catalan and German). Basically everyone, hearing or not, will have trouble understanding the different kinds of dialogue at some point, and that’s the idea. The experience of What? is both immersive and educational. And it’s all filtered through the lens of comedy.

Because it’s essentially a silent movie with its roots in the Chaplin/Keaton influence, the musical score is a tour-de-force. Composer/soundman Justin Asher leans into the banging-and-clanging piano that is generally considered typical of the silent era, but gives it a modern feel, sometimes jovial and other times ominous. At one point towards the middle of the film, the music stops for a scene, and that’s when the audience realizes what an integral part it is. The score for What? is more than just something to listen to while the images flash by. It’s essential to the experience. It’s note-perfect. It’s exactly what it needs to be.

Now, a bit of a spoiler. There is a lesson that is taught in the third act of What? during a Twilight Zone-esque little sequence where the tables are turned on Jamie the director. Like the immersive (and purposely alienating) methodology of the rest of the movie, this is by design. The closest thing to an antagonist to exist in the film gets his comeuppance. It all leads up to an ending that ties itself up in a neat little bow and is, therefore, a bit too feel-good, but the point of the movie is not to generate sympathy for Don. It’s to raise awareness of his plight (and that of many others). And that it does.

What? is a very different movie from CODA. While the latter tugs at the heartstrings, the former tickles the funny bone. But both help to shine a light on the deaf community and, more importantly, both shine a brighter light on hard-of-hearing talent while doing it.

What? is now playing in select theaters and hits VOD on April 19th.

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