Prime Video has released a trailer for Musica, an upcoming movie about a man who hears music everywhere he goes, and it’s immediately going straight to the top of our must-watch list.
Set in New Jersey, Musica follows the story of a man called Rudy who is “tortured by music”. He explains to his love interest in the trailer: “For as long as I remember, everyday regular sounds, I turn into rhythm.” This is visualized in such a vibrant, colorful way in the trailer, which feels like we’re watching a musical that defies physics – some of the scenery splicing scenes are reminiscent of Everything Everywhere All At Once.
The movie isn’t just about the strange talent (or is it a curse?) that Rudy has to constantly reimagine the world around him as a vast musical performance, but it’s also a coming-of-age tale and a love story. Rudy must contend with the various women in his life who are putting different kinds pressure on him, whether it’s his ex-girlfriend, his mom or his potential new love interest Isabella (Camila Mendes from Riverdale). And, of course, there’s the star of the trailer: a puppet who seems to act as Rudy’s confidant or conscience.
Musica will premiere at SXSW on March 13 and will then be available to stream on April 4 on Prime Video.
Who is Rudy Mancuso?
Musica stars Rudy Mancuso in the lead role, an internet star who rose to fame when he started a Vine (a now shuttered short-form video app) channel in 2013 and then a YouTube channel in 2016.
Since then, he’s appeared in TV shows, released singles, directed music videos and much more. Now Rudy is not only starring in Musica, but he directed the movie and co-wrote it alongside writer and producer Dan Lagana.
Fascinatingly, Rudy revealed in a tweet back in 2021 that he has synesthesia. He explains that this is “a rare neurological condition in which stimulation of one sense leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in another”. He goes on to explain that his unique brand of synesthesia has manifested in different ways over the years, but shares: “I personify sounds, feel shapes and see music.”
In 2021, he made a series of videos in which he tried to create a machine that could physically render what he sees when he hears and plays music. You can find some of the results on YouTube in this video titled simply SYNESTHESIA.
Now he’s dreamed up Musica, which seems to be yet another creative avenue for Mancusco to help visualize and communicate his unique abilities to see and feel the music he hears. This is probably why the trailer states that Musica is “a story that is actually true (ish).” Here’s hoping its good enough to make it into our list of the best Prime Video movies when it arrives.
