An untraditional romantic comedy that moves at an infectious beat, Música stars Rudy Mancuso, who based the film on his own experiences and serves as the film’s director, co-writer, composer and choreographer.  

Rudy Mancuso, a charismatic but directionless young street performer from Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood, has a unique view of the world. Thanks to a rare condition called synesthesia, he experiences everyday noises—from car horns to water droplets to doors slamming—as a series of complex rhythms. He struggles to keep the music in his head at bay, but it’s not so easily accomplished. 

When he’s not taking classes to finish his college degree or staging puppet performances for commuters on the streets of Ironbound’s close-knit Brazilian community, Rudy is trying to convince his girlfriend, Haley, played by Francesca Reale, that he will eventually figure things out. He lives with his mother, Maria, played by the actor’s real-life mother, Maria Mancuso, who wants her son to dump Haley and settle down with a lovely Brazilian girl from the neighborhood. Rudy also gets advice on life and love from his best friend, Anwar, played by J. B. Smoove, a food truck operator whose cultural identity morphs depending on where he parks his truck that day. 

Matters take a turn for the chaotic when a flying piece of frozen fish knocks out Rudy. The accident leads to an encounter with Isabella, played by Camila Mendes, a beautiful young Brazilian woman who works in the local fish market and may understand Rudy in ways nobody has ever done. In a love triangle, Rudy tries to balance his cultural heritage, the women in his life, and the música inside his head.