First look at The History of Sound: Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor star in new romance film

After playing Connell in Sally Rooney's heartbreaking Normal People adaptation, Paul Mescal returns with The History of Sound, another project that centers around romance. Joining him is Josh O'Connor, one of the trio from Luca Guadagnino's The Challengers. Together, they will lead the romance drama, set in the early 20th century, which comes from Oliver Hermanus, the director of Bill Nighy's Living.

The History of Sound will have its world premiere at the upcoming 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it will compete for the Palme d'Or award with almost twenty titles, which also includes another Josh O'Connor film, The Mastermind. Ahead of its screening, Vanity Fair has revealed the first look at this historical romantic drama.

The pictures offer an insight into the characters played by Mescal and O'Connor and the period setting. They present their characters in a candid moment, sharing a laugh. The rest of them show these two contemplating something. One of them is a behind-the-scenes picture that features director Oliver Hermanus with Mescal.

The History of Sound: Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor star in Oliver Hermanus' romance drama

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Written by Oliver Hermanus, The History of Sound is based on Ben Shattuck's short story of the same name. Its logline, per IMDb, reads,

"Two young men during World War I set out to record the lives, voices, and music of their American countrymen."

Paul Mescal plays Lionel while Josh O'Connor plays David, the man Lionel falls for. The rest of the cast and characters include:

Molly Price as Lionel's mother
Hadley Robinson as Belle
Chris Cooper as Older Lionel
Raphael Sbarge as Lionel Sr.
Emma Canning as Clarissa
Briana Middleton as Thankful Mary Swain
Peter Mark Kendall as Nathan
Alison Bartlett as Samantha
Michael Schantz as Bob
Gary Raymond as William
Alessandro Bedetti as Vincent

The History of Sound reportedly revolves around the relationship between Lionel and David, who met in 1916 in New England and went on a journey together in 1919 to record folk songs by people from rural landscapes. Music is an integral part of their journey since Lionel falls for David after seeing him perform a folk song in a piano bar.

While speaking about their personalities, Hermanus told Vanity Fair,

“David is vocal, David has ideas, David is wealthy. And Lionel is kind of just being overwhelmed by this person, but in a very slow-drip way—taking a long time to quantify the impact of this moment in his life and this relationship."

Although a romance between two men, Oliver Hermanus wanted The History of Sound to depart from the lens through which a queer romance is often portrayed on screen.

“I’m a gay man. I would love to go to the movies and watch a movie about a same-sex relationship that maybe makes me cry, but feels fulfilling. So much of queer cinema—and I’ve made queer cinema like this—is about the struggles. For me, this has always been about wanting it to be accessible to everyone. We’re not going to make a movie about the problematizing of their relationship or their sexuality.”

Hermanus mentions that The History of Sound portrays a sweeping romance through Lionel's (Mescal) perspective. However, he wanted to handle the aspects, whether sex or a sense of companionship, in a peculiar way.

“I didn’t want the sex of it to be the transgression, or the big idea, like, ‘Oh, it’s 1917, and these two men are taking the risk of being sexual.’”

Mescal adds,

“There is a kind of real sense of companionship and the joy and loss that comes with the presence and absence of that. It’s not just about sex and the intensity of falling in love. It’s deeper than that.”

The History of Sound will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Mubi and Focus Features/Universal Pictures International hold the distribution rights, and it is expected to be released in late 2025.