{"id":34642,"date":"2026-01-20T07:31:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T07:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=34642"},"modified":"2026-01-20T07:31:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T07:31:54","slug":"the-seriously-deranged-movie-only-anna-kendrick-liked-i-realized-the-severed-heads-were-the-only-ones-truly-listening-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=34642","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cseriously deranged\u201d movie only Anna Kendrick liked: \u201cI realized the severed heads were the only ones truly listening today.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2014, while much of Hollywood recoiled from what it labeled a \u201cseriously deranged\u201d horror comedy, Anna Kendrick<\/span><\/span><\/strong> quietly did the opposite. She embraced it. The film was The Voices<\/span><\/span><\/em>, a dark, off-kilter blend of gore, loneliness, and absurd humor that baffled audiences\u2014but struck Kendrick as something unexpectedly tender.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI realized the severed heads were the only ones truly listening today,\u201d she once joked during production, a line that perfectly captured both the film\u2019s shock factor and its strange emotional core.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Risky Detour From \u201cAmerica\u2019s Sweetheart\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

Fresh off the massive success of Pitch Perfect<\/em>, Kendrick\u2019s decision to star in The Voices<\/em> felt deliberately subversive. Directed by Marjane Satrapi<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, best known for the animated autobiographical masterpiece Persepolis<\/em>, the film centers on Jerry, a factory worker played by Ryan Reynolds<\/span><\/span><\/strong>. Jerry hears voices\u2014from his dog, his cat, and eventually from the severed heads of women he has killed.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many viewers, that premise alone was enough to walk out. For Kendrick, it was precisely the point.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeing Sweetness Where Others Saw Shock<\/span><\/h2>\n

Kendrick played Lisa, Jerry\u2019s cheerful co-worker and romantic interest. Rather than viewing the film as a slasher, she interpreted it as a tragic allegory about untreated mental illness and extreme isolation. The talking heads, she argued, weren\u2019t played for cheap horror\u2014they symbolized the only \u201crelationships\u201d Jerry could maintain once reality completely fractured.<\/span><\/p>\n

One particularly infamous character, Fiona\u2014played by Gemma Arterton<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u2014continues conversing with Jerry after her death. Kendrick defended these scenes as heartbreaking rather than grotesque: a visual metaphor for how desperately Jerry wanted to be heard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Color, Comedy, and a Broken Mind<\/span><\/h2>\n

Satrapi reinforced that perspective through visual design. Jerry\u2019s hallucinated world is drenched in bright pinks and cheerful pastels, while reality is gray and oppressive. Kendrick praised this choice, noting that it forced audiences to experience the story from inside Jerry\u2019s mind\u2014where horror feels comforting and reality feels unbearable.<\/span><\/p>\n

This tonal contradiction, Kendrick believed, was why the film was misunderstood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Critics, Box Office, and Vindication<\/span><\/h2>\n

When The Voices<\/em> premiered at Sundance, reactions were sharply divided. Its theatrical release was limited, and it earned less than $500,000 worldwide. Many dismissed it as too bizarre to classify.<\/span><\/p>\n

But time has been kinder. The film has since gained cult status, earning renewed appreciation for its daring tone and Reynolds\u2019 unsettling performance\u2014often cited as one of his bravest roles before Deadpool<\/em>. Today, it holds strong critical scores and is frequently reevaluated as a bold mental-health allegory rather than a gimmicky horror flick.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Kendrick Stood Her Ground<\/span><\/h2>\n

For Kendrick, defending The Voices<\/em> wasn\u2019t about provocation. It was about empathy. She saw a story about someone failed by the system, clinging to imaginary listeners because no real ones remained.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her willingness to champion such a \u201cderanged\u201d film proved something essential about her career: behind the charm and comedy lies an actress unafraid to explore the darkest corners of loneliness\u2014and to find sweetness there, even when no one else can.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2014, while much of Hollywood recoiled from what it labeled a \u201cseriously deranged\u201d horror comedy, Anna Kendrick quietly did the opposite. She embraced it. The film was The Voices, a dark, off-kilter blend of gore, loneliness, and absurd humor that baffled audiences\u2014but struck Kendrick as something unexpectedly tender. \u201cI realized the severed heads were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}