Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor’s gay romance The History of Sound gets release date

The History of Sound, the gay romance starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor, has finally been given a release date, and we’ll have to be patient for a bit longer.

Based on Ben Shattuck’s short story, the film’s official synopsis reads: “Two young music students, Lionel [Mescal] and David [O’Connor], attending the Boston Conservatory in 1917, bond over their shared love of folk music. They reconnect a few years later, embarking on a song collecting trip in the backwaters of Maine.”

The film received mixed reviews after it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May with several critics comparing it to Brokeback Mountain. Mescal called the comparisons “lazy”.

Now, according to the X/Twitter account FilmUpdates, we know the film will be released in cinemas on 12 September. However, it is unclear whether that is just in the US or worldwide.

Mubi is distributing the film in North America while Focus Features and Universal Pictures have the international rights. 

Speaking to Variety in Cannes, director Oliver Hermanus described the film as “a profound concept of nostalgia, using the metaphor of sound for how we retain feelings”.

Oliver Hermanus’ ‘THE HISTORY OF SOUND’ will be released in theaters on September 12.

Starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor. pic.twitter.com/CixXVsAsx7

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) June 17, 2025

He also touched on the film’s intimate moments and what audiences can expect, saying that he didn’t want the sex scenes to be “pivotal, or [signal] gear changes in their relationship”.

Hermanus went on to say: “What I love is the moments that bring sex about, then the moments after. Josh’s character has this amazing thing where he keeps collecting all the feathers that are falling out of Paul’s pillow and stuffing them back in. That’s romance.”

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