Sarah Guirguis If you’re into dark comedy and thrillers but you can’t afford the time to spend your nights watching movies or hour-long episodes, this podcast is just what you’ve been waiting for. Titled ‘Soft Voice’, the audio series stars none other than Naomi Scott, Bel Powley and Olivia Cooke, and is ideal for listening to on-the-go. (Few spoilers below!)
The story follows Lydia (Naomi Scott), who is a 25-year-old real estate agent. Apparently, when she was four, she began hearing a voice in her head, which she refers to as Soft Voice (Bel Powley). Soft Voice used to give her clear direction on what to do, getting her to thrive in every part of her life. Until one day, she’s suddenly gone, leaving Lydia not knowing what to do other than be guided by her own desires and impulses. As she experiments with how that feels, Lydia is also introduced to Dark Voice (Olivia Cooke). Essentially, she begins to battle with these voices to find out who she is and what to do. And you – the listener – get to play the role of the protagonist.
On how this podcast came to be, Cooke told Vogue, “Well, James Bloor, who wrote and created Soft Voice, had the idea a few years ago. We’ve been friendly for quite a few years, and when he told me about this podcast that he was doing – this was in the early days of narrative-driven podcasts that weren’t true-crime or interviews – it sounded really interesting, because it was all about consciousness and the idea of the devil and angel on your shoulders.”
We have to agree that the theme is very intriguing, and particularly relatable in today’s world. We’ve all faced obstacles before while trying to process our thoughts and figure out what to do in our day-to-day lives. Add to that relevant theme an engaging plot, some dark humor and the pure voices of three of Britain’s most beloved young actresses – and you’ve got a hit!
In that same interview, Scott described the writing tone within the script as “funny and specific and kind of British,” and then Powley added, “Olivia and Naomi were already attached to the project when I came on, which immediately piqued my interest, because they’re two actresses that I really respect and love and wanted to work with anyway. I have never flown through reading a series faster; I honestly sat on my bedroom floor for three hours reading, and I was absolutely obsessed immediately. It’s such a page-turner…or, I guess you’re listening to it, so it’s a listening-turner.”
