The Wasteland Reviewer

Back to Black (2024) Written Review

What is Hollywood’s fascination with music biopics? We already saw the release of the Bob Marley biopic earlier this year. It received the similar “by-the-numbers” and “overly simplified” criticisms that so many music biopics receive. This trend became so common that the spoof film Walk Hard was released which lampooned so many of the tropes we see in films like this. But films like Ray and Walk the Line are two decades old now and few music biopics have reached that type of acclaim (you all need to watch Rocketman…just a quick public service announcement). People love music but humans love watching famous people being trainwrecks even more. What can we say…humans have a morbid sense of entertainment. Just look at TMZ. 

But does Back to Black stand out in telling the story of the extremely talented and troubled Amy Winehouse? Sure…but in all the wrong ways. The film does lean heavily into basic plotting of biopics, especially Walk the Line. They even have a parallel in the way they handle the substance abuse of its subject. You get that rock bottom moment but get a nice turnaround in the third act to set up its subject redemption. What’s the problem? Winehouse died. Cash did not. This film is mind boggling in the way it decides to offer up a classic redemption arc of its subject then throw text up on the screen to basically say “Just kidding! She died”. 

Is this the only way Back to Black warps Winehouse’s story to tell a simple biopic narrative? Unfortunately, no. The film paints Amy as nothing more than just a desperate young woman whose whole existence comes down to one specific man and wanting to have a family with him. All her agency is ripped away and the Amy in the film constantly puts down her skills and accomplishments as nothing compared to her love for this man. Then the film scapegoats her as the problem and Blake (this one special love) gets an actual redemption arc. You might be surprised to find out that this film was not written by him (my wife specifically checked afterwards). This Amy that is portrayed in the film is a shallow and hollow shadow of the complicated and talented woman the documentary Amy (a.k.a. THE Amy Winehouse). 

But are there any redeeming elements to this perplexing film? Marisa Abela is a force. Her work on Industry grabbed attention but this portrayal of Winehouse should make her a star (despite the quality of the film she is in). Abela captures all the physicality so well and the extremely expressive Amy when she is singing and performing. There is even a moment when she gets the zoomies during a concert, and you will be surprised by her physical performance in giant heels. But it is the authenticity that Abela brings that makes Amy so empathetic (also despite the story she is placed in). There is a tenderness and sadness underneath the performance. Abela also captures the obsession and attraction to both her man and the drugs that began to control her life. There are a few strong supporting cast members as well. Jack O’Connell is great as Blake, and he ranges from despicable to clean throughout the film. Eddie Marsan is such an underappreciated character actor, and he brings plenty of humanity to Amy’s father. Lesley Manville is in the film for a bit as well and really sells the woman who inspired Winehouse the most.

Are there elements that director Sam Taylor-Johnson delivers that stand out in the film? The musical scenes sell well. They are well shot and provide a space for Winehouse’s music to really speak for itself. Her talents were off the charts and had so many great tracks in her short time as a star. Her Grammy performance scene hits hard (despite being placed in such a strange and uncomfortable place in the structure of the film). There is even one last sequence that sells Winehouse’s music and Abela performance, but it feels so out of place to wrap up a tragic story like Winehouse’s. The film also does a great job capturing the discomfort of living in a paparazzi-controlled world. The way those scenes are shot capture the anxiety and voyeurism that can destroy a human being’s sense of calm. 

Is Back to Black a worthwhile cinematic experience to check out? That is a hard question. There are certain elements that are worth experiencing like Abela’s great performance and the musical elements of the film. But this film feels like a warped perspective on Amy Winehouse that feels like it exists because she is not here to defend herself. Like Bohemian Rhapsody, this film paints a life where Winehouse is just a problem to everyone else. But this film is even more perplexing due to its tone-deaf navigation of her death (a result of her succumbing to her addictions).