coda

CODA is about Ruby Rossi, a 17 year old hearing girl who helps her deaf family with their fishing business in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The story would be pretty pedestrian but that it centers entirely on a deaf family, often speaking in ASL, performed by deaf actors, with dialogue shown in subtitles to those who don’t know the language. It is writer/director Sian Heder’s dialogue, and the delivery by the actors, that raises CODA high above standard coming of age fare. This is not a film that makes the story about deafness itself.

CODA, a delightful film that offers a new spin on the standard coming-of-age tale, focuses on Ruby, a teenager who happens to be a CODA – child of deaf adults. By both necessity and preference, the Rossi family has existed outside of the hearing community, relying on Ruby to help be the bridge between the two worlds, especially when it comes to the family’s fishing business.