This is not a drill, darling. Josh O’Connor spat in Paul Mescal’s mouth, and it wasn’t even the climax. It was foreplay.
Cinematic queer thirst has reached biblical proportions—film bros and gays alike have been parched for The History of Sound since the casting of Josh O’Connor (The Crown, God’s Gift to Cheekbones) and Paul Mescal (Aftersun, Gays’ Softboy Dream #1). The long-anticipated WWI-era gay romance has finally debuted at the Telluride Film Festival, and while early reviews are split, the audience is united in one visceral reaction: the spit scene lives rent-free in everyone’s mind.
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In a post-screening Q&A, O’Connor casually dropped a bombshell about the now-infamous moment that’s been dubbed “the horniest scene in the film”—and no, it’s not sex. It’s saliva.
“We were kind of keeping ourselves separate, and really in the characters, and then we did the first take, and it was the spit, and I just—it just dribbled down me, and Paul was like waiting,” O’Connor said, laughing, miming Mescal lying back with his mouth wide open.
We gasped.
@coffeefrijolito This just made me buy tickets to opening night! 😩 #joshoconnor #paulmescal #thehistoryofsound #spitscene #fyp
The scene is part of a pre-intimacy moment between Lionel (Mescal) and David (O’Connor), who are on a journey across America to record the voices and music of their fellow citizens—part queer love story, part historical road trip, all vibes. Somewhere between phonographs and feelings, the men share an act that is deeply specific and, apparently, deeply charged.
“If you clipped this without sound it would be…” Mescal added, trailing off, as both actors dissolved into laughter.
No further explanation needed. The gay imagination filled in the blanks immediately.
Yes, yes, we know—it’s not just about the spit. It’s about intimacy, trust, performance, the line between actors and characters. But also… it’s about the spit.
This kind of moment feels ripped straight from the queer cinematic playbook of “one moment of unhinged sensuality that no heterosexual would dare to film.” It’s Call Me By Your Name’s peach, Brokeback Mountain’s tent, Weekend’s cigarette-sharing—but make it fluid exchange.
And yet, if you’re heading into The History of Sound expecting wall-to-wall sex, you might want to recalibrate. Director Oliver Hermanus, who brought the film to the New York premiere following its world debut at Cannes, made a deliberate artistic choice: to go tender, not explicit.
“There are many different kinds of sex scenes in the film, one of which is Paul’s character just walking around Josh’s character’s house, his apartment,” Hermanus told IndieWire. “I tried to, you know, suggest that queer people, gay people, can have relationships that are more than just hookups. This is about the deeper things. I’m proud of my choice.”
It’s a welcome subversion in a cinematic world that often reduces gay love to sweaty torsos and dramatic thrusting. Hermanus went for something quieter—a decades-long connection that reverberates through a lifetime, rather than just a weekend affair.
Even Mescal weighed in on the emotional fabric of the film:
“I’ve done my fair share of sex scenes, I’m like, ‘been there, done that,’” he said at Cannes. “What feels slightly different about this from [other] romantic relationships onscreen, I would say in the hierarchy of their relationship, physical touch isn’t the priority. It’s intellectual stimulation, it’s friendship. Not that they’re not physically attracted to each other; they very much are, but their chemistry is born from this shared love of these folk songs, and it extends from there.”
So, no, you won’t be seeing O’Connor and Mescal writhing in period-accurate undergarments. But you will witness intimacy in forms that are arguably more profound—an open mouth, a song shared, a silence filled with meaning.
Hermanus also revealed that their chemistry was instant and organic.
“We hung out a few times in London a lot and there was one night I was at a friend’s house and they were both over, I think I was DJing, I was hanging out, and it was immediately at ease with which they got on, and by the time we were shooting the movie, it was its own thing,” he recalled.
The History of Sound’s early critical reception has been largely positive. IndieWire’s Ryan Lattanzio praised the film’s emotional texture, writing:
“The false notes are rare in director Oliver Hermanus’ affecting and dustily textured romance ‘The History of Sound,’ written by Ben Shattuck from his own short story about men in love, together and apart, circa World War I and its aftermath. But for a queer love story starring two of the hottest, of-this-moment leading actors around — Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor — ‘The History of Sound’ almost perversely denies your expectations of what a gay romance could be.”
So, pack your emotional support water bottle (or don’t), and prepare yourself. Because whether you’re here for historical accuracy, queer representation, or just want to see Paul Mescal get spit in his mouth like it’s the gay Eucharist, The History of Sound is coming. And we’ll be seated.
Front row. Mouths open.
The History of Sound premieres in theaters September 12, released by MUBI.