Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, "The Accident" (Milan)

Despite having a band name that's a pain in the ass to type, S U R V I V E have achieved astronomical success as an instrumental-electronic duo. Members Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein rocketed to cult stardom with their score to the Netflix series Stranger Things— which I've not seen, but some people whom I respect speak highly of it. Surely on the strength of their work for that TV show, the Grammy-nominated Dixon and Stein got tapped to score Native Son, Rashid Johnson's adaptation of Richard Wright's devastating 1940 novel of systemic racism. These S U R V I V E dudes have got this foreboding ambience thing down to a science, and they permeate the movie with said aural dread and tension like seasoned pros. There is no space for conventional beauty or whimsy in Native Son's sonic world.

"The Accident" starts with faint, desolate drones before very gradually intensifying into a slow-motion maelstrom of hollowed-out synth groans, grimaces, and scything metallic gnashing. This is forehead-vein-throbbing horror executed with utmost subtlety. The art of the ordeal...