Critical response
The film received a 91% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 7.1/10 based on 23 critics. The website's critical consensus reads, "Sound of Noise is a raucous, irreverent comedy caper with good tunes and a romantic finish."[11] On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 72 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12]
Eric Kohn of IndieWire called Sound of Noise "Bonnie and Clyde on drums", writing, "Loaded with ingeniously devised beats, it hammers out a unique rhythm deserved of many repeat performances," and "directors Ola Simonsson and Johannes Stjärne make the surrealist musical set pieces into the real stars". He also praised the film's "wildly original soundtrack".[13]
David DeWitt from The New York Times compared the film to the similarly percussive theatrical show Stomp, and called it "a character study mixed with outlandish crime procedural. Everyone’s quite serious about the joke, without a moment of Adam Sandler-style “look at how cute we are” that would only dilute the film's appeal. Sound of Noise is a dry treat — a solid, self-aware cult pleasure".[14]
In her review of the film, Alissa Simon from Variety called it "a delightful comic cocktail of modern city symphony, police procedural and love story ... With the most complex and wackily staged musical numbers since Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Delicatessen, the pic was far more demanding to make than it is to watch". She noted that "critical praise and savvy marketing could transform sure-fire fest crowd-pleaser into a niche arthouse success in most markets".[15]
Peter Brunette of The Hollywood Reporter called the basic premise of the film "one of the most imaginative you'll ever see. It's all based on music—raw, elemental and percussive—out of which genuine laughs are wrung from beginning to end." He noted the film's "understated but cute rom-com aspect", and described the sketches as "brilliantly conceptualized and faultlessly executed. The editing and sound mix are snappy, and delightful animations perk up the film visually. Sound of Noise may be small in scope, but, in terms of imagination, it's huge." He similarly commented that "the right niche distributor might coax some modest profits" from the film.[16]
