# In a World...
**In a World...** is a 2013 American comedy written, directed, co-produced by, and starring [Lake Bell](https://www.edgepedia.org/lake-bell). It follows Carol Solomon, an underachieving vocal coach who tries to break into the male-dominated world of movie-trailer voice-over work while competing against her father Sam Sotto, the reigning king of the industry, and his successful protégé Gustav Warner[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-world). The title takes its name from the catchphrase "In a world..." popularized by the late voice actor [Don LaFontaine](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-lafontaine)[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-world). The film premiered at the 2013 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival), where Bell won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-aug-10-la-et-mn-lake-bell-in-a-world-conversation-20130810-story.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | US theatrical August 9, 2013; UK release 13 September 2013; DVD and Blu-ray January 21, 2014[3](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/in-a-world/60216/where-to-watch/) • [1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-world) |
| Running time | 93 minutes (92 minutes 49 seconds per the BFI record)[4](https://tubitv.com/movies/460161/in-a-world) • [1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-world) |
| Rating | R for language including some sexual references[5](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/in-a-world/umc.cmc.7e70fv8t4rd0aote9vceemosp) |
| Principal cast | Lake Bell (Carol Solomon), Fred Melamed (Sam Sotto), Demetri Martin (Louis), Ken Marino (Gustav Warner), Michaela Watkins (Dani), Rob Corddry (Moe)[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-world) |
| Crew | Director of photography Seamus Tierney, editor Tom McArdle, music Ryan Miller[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-world) |
| Critical reception | 92% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (120 fresh, 10 rotten, average 7.5)[5](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/in-a-world/umc.cmc.7e70fv8t4rd0aote9vceemosp); 6.6/10 on IMDb from about 34,000 votes[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294677/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Carol Solomon (Lake Bell) is a freelance vocal coach and aspiring voice actress living in the shadow of her father Sam Sotto ([Fred Melamed](https://www.edgepedia.org/fred-melamed)), described by [Sony Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures) as the undisputed king of the voice-over industry. When Sam kicks her out of the house, Carol lands her first voice-over job with the help of Louis ([Demetri Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/demetri-martin)), a sound engineer, and finds herself in head-to-head competition with her father as job offers accumulate[7](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/inaworld). Sam also contends with Gustav Warner (Ken Marino), the protégé positioning himself to inherit the top trailer work[8](https://www.screenhub.com.au/news/reviews/in-a-world-198306-1366290/).
The catalyst is a fictional blockbuster franchise, *The Amazon Games*, whose trailers are expected to revive the hallowed opening phrase "In a world...", sparking feverish competition across the voice-over industry[8](https://www.screenhub.com.au/news/reviews/in-a-world-198306-1366290/). Subplots include Carol's sister Dani ([Michaela Watkins](https://www.edgepedia.org/michaela-watkins)), whose marriage to Moe ([Rob Corddry](https://www.edgepedia.org/rob-corddry)) is floundering, and Louis's courtship of Carol[9](https://feminema.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/see-this-film-in-a-world-2013/). [Geena Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/geena-davis) plays studio executive Katherine Huling, a minor character whose speech changes the course of the story[10](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2013/aug/15/interview-with-emin-a-worldem-writer-director-star/).
The film opens as a mock documentary tribute to Don LaFontaine, with testimonials rolling over archival footage, before the fictional narrative takes over[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-world).
## The title and Don LaFontaine
"In a world..." was the signature opening of countless blockbuster trailers. Don LaFontaine, born in Duluth and nicknamed "Thunder Throat", voiced approximately 5,000 film trailers between 1976 and his death in 2008[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-world). According to the legend Bell retells, LaFontaine began as a copywriter and penned the words "In a world where..."; when the voice actor booked to record a trailer failed to show, LaFontaine stepped into the booth himself, and his deep, authoritative delivery changed movie trailers permanently[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-aug-10-la-et-mn-lake-bell-in-a-world-conversation-20130810-story.html).
In an interview with the *San Diego Reader*, Bell said that after LaFontaine's death the epic "voice of God" style of trailer narration waned, giving way to an everyday voice with a sarcastic wink, and that trailers increasingly favor montages of images and dialogue over narration[10](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2013/aug/15/interview-with-emin-a-worldem-writer-director-star/).
## Production and Lake Bell's role
Bell made her feature debut as writer, director, and producer while also playing the lead. She has said the script took about a year and a half of a four-year production from start to finish[11](https://www.motionpictures.org/2013/08/writer-director-producer-star-lake-bell-on-in-a-world/). The idea grew from a conversation with a friend roughly six years earlier, in which she and the friend tried and failed to name a single movie trailer voiced by a woman[10](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2013/aug/15/interview-with-emin-a-worldem-writer-director-star/). She has also said her own ambition to do voice-over work met what she described as a deeply instated, cutthroat, and cliquey hierarchy, an experience that informed the film[12](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/lake-bell-talks-about-in-a-world--and-the-politics-of-dialect/2013/08/08/71eb5ed0-ff76-11e2-96a8-d3b921c0924a_story.html).
She uses her vocal range inside the film itself: the voices of Sam's and Gustav's agents heard on the phone throughout the movie are Bell's[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294677/).
Production companies included 3311 Productions, with Stage 6 Films and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment associated with the home release[13](https://library.tcdc.or.th/record/view/b00030908). Roadside Attractions handled the 2013 US theatrical release[14](https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2024240314/2013-09-05/ed-1/seq-24.pdf), and Sony Pictures Releasing was the UK distributor[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-world).
## Voice, gender, and speech
The film critiques sexism in the voice-over industry, where the accepted position, as one review summarized it, is that "the industry does not crave a female sound"[8](https://www.screenhub.com.au/news/reviews/in-a-world-198306-1366290/). Carol's father argues audiences expect a masculine voice in trailers; Bell responded in interviews that the conceit could be defended technically or challenged culturally, and that she wrote as "a lady, and therefore a feminist", looking at the industry from the outside[10](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2013/aug/15/interview-with-emin-a-worldem-writer-director-star/).
A running thread targets a contemporary speech pattern Bell calls the "sexy baby voice": high-pitched, uptalking delivery among young women that she treats as a vocal trend, complete with filler words and question-like upnotes at sentence ends[9](https://feminema.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/see-this-film-in-a-world-2013/) • [14](https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2024240314/2013-09-05/ed-1/seq-24.pdf). Bell has said her point is not to disparage those who speak that way but to note that it is a dialect that can be changed with vocal awareness[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-aug-10-la-et-mn-lake-bell-in-a-world-conversation-20130810-story.html).
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 92% Tomatometer score from 130 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5[5](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/in-a-world/umc.cmc.7e70fv8t4rd0aote9vceemosp). Adam Nayman, a Toronto-based film critic writing for [Sight and Sound](https://www.edgepedia.org/sight-and-sound), called it a fresh ensemble showbiz comedy and praised Bell for finding an original milieu while ceding screen time to her co-stars, describing the cast as performing "with the relaxed aplomb of an alt-comedy all-star team"[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-world). The Los Angeles Times reported that the film earned Bell the Sundance 2013 Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-aug-10-la-et-mn-lake-bell-in-a-world-conversation-20130810-story.html).
## Availability
In the United States the film streams with ads on Plex and Tubi, by subscription on the Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel, and can be rented for $3.99 or bought from $12.99 on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, and YouTube[3](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/in-a-world/60216/where-to-watch/) • [15](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/in-a-world). It is available on DVD and Blu-ray; Sony Pictures lists it as "Now on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD"[7](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/inaworld). It is not currently on Netflix in the US, India, or Belgium[3](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/in-a-world/60216/where-to-watch/) • [16](https://ottpath.com/movie/in-a-world-2013) • [17](https://www.streamguide.be/film/157360/in-a-world).
## References
1. [Film of the week: In a World… | Sight and Sound, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-world)
2. [Lake Bell speaks out on voice-over work | Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-aug-10-la-et-mn-lake-bell-in-a-world-conversation-20130810-story.html)
3. [In a World... - Where to Watch | Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/in-a-world/60216/where-to-watch/)
4. [In a World... (2013) - Stream Free | Tubi](https://tubitv.com/movies/460161/in-a-world)
5. [In a World... | Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/in-a-world/umc.cmc.7e70fv8t4rd0aote9vceemosp)
6. [In a World... (2013) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294677/)
7. [IN A WORLD... | Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/inaworld)
8. [In A World... | ScreenHub](https://www.screenhub.com.au/news/reviews/in-a-world-198306-1366290/)
9. [See this film: "In a World…" (2013) | Feminéma](https://feminema.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/see-this-film-in-a-world-2013/)
10. [Interview with In A World... writer-director-star Lake Bell | San Diego Reader](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2013/aug/15/interview-with-emin-a-worldem-writer-director-star/)
11. [Writer/Director/Producer/Star Lake Bell on In a World… | The Credits](https://www.motionpictures.org/2013/08/writer-director-producer-star-lake-bell-on-in-a-world/)
12. [Lake Bell talks about 'In a World...' and the politics of dialect | The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/lake-bell-talks-about-in-a-world--and-the-politics-of-dialect/2013/08/08/71eb5ed0-ff76-11e2-96a8-d3b921c0924a_story.html)
13. [In a world | TCDC Resource Center](https://library.tcdc.or.th/record/view/b00030908)
14. [Movies by Molly Templeton | Oregon Daily Emerald archive](https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2024240314/2013-09-05/ed-1/seq-24.pdf)
15. [In a World... streaming: where to watch online? | JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/in-a-world)
16. [Where to Watch In a World... (2013) Online in India | OTTpath](https://ottpath.com/movie/in-a-world-2013)
17. [In a World... (2013) kijken? | StreamGuide Belgium](https://www.streamguide.be/film/157360/in-a-world)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2013 to 2014 › Titles symbols to I*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license