The High Note

From Nisha Ganatra (director of 2019’s Late Night), The High Note follows the career of successful singer Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross), whose proposed later-career album her assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson) has ambitions to produce. It’s a drama following career ambition behind the scenes of the entertainment industry, not unlike Ganatra’s last film. The casting was almost certainly made with Ross’ mother, Diana Ross (of The Supremes fame), in mind—and Tracee Ellis certainly channels her mother’s spirit here.

As a music-focused drama, it’s unsurprising to see some interesting moments in the trailer regarding its use of sound. Right away we get a comedic moment at the nine second mark as Grace asks Maggie what city she’s playing in at the moment—re-contextualizing the line “I can’t hear you” from sincere question to a classic rhetorical play off the audience’s energy. Afterwards, we hear a backing track with a bit of expository narration from Maggie, which leads as an audio bridge to the next scene where this backing track enters diegesis at 0:27. Note also how the last lyric of this song is “stop”—and the live band happens to be asked to stop at this point. It’s these very subtle meta-diegetic interplays, whether here or with the “I can’t hear you” play, that are provide delightful audiovisual details for the audience.

A change in tracks at the 0:48 mark also marks the introduction of the film’s primary issues—whether and how Grace records a follow-up record mid-career, and to what extent Maggie is able to have a hand in this production. The change in music, accordingly, moves from a rollicking, smooth number to a rhythmically janky, funky piece that reflects the complications introduced in the narrative. 

The music stops again at the 1:15 mark, as before, but whereas the previous break served a comedic purpose, here we see Maggie’s dramatic breakdown; the music correspondingly obliges, changing to a piano ballad. The narrative quickly turns from bleak to decidedly uplifting—although, one could probably surmise the overall trajectory of the story given a title such as The High Note. The trailer ends on a final comedic bit, as many comedy trailers do.

Overall, this trailer delivers a neatly balanced offering of both comedy and drama. The transitions between songs are handled in unique ways that serve the emotional turn, while earlier in the trailer there’s some clever interplay between music and sound in and out of the film’s frame and through different contexts. Perhaps this happens in part to capture initial audience interest before focusing on narrative development. Whatever the case, this film builds on the public’s seemingly insatiable desire to see and hear about the lives of musicians.

The High Note is due to hit theatres May 8th.

— Curtis Perry