Beyond the Lights

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Audience Member What’s beyond the lights when it comes to being famous? Who is the person really under all the fame, attention, and success? It’s not all glamorous as it seems. Gina-Prince Bythewood tells the story of one person’s true struggle despite the shiny clothes and adoration by many starring Gugu-Mbatha Raw. Noni is the most popular artist in the world but her mother played by Minnie Driver is her manager and pushes her every day to step up. After a near death experience being saved by a police offer he’s hired as her bodyguard to gain a better understanding of what she actually sees on a daily basis. This is a poignant, thoughtful look at a female pop star's struggle with depression due to her relentless, unsympathetic, over-achieving mother and her unhappiness with the lack of meaning in her life. After meeting this officer it is at that point that she finds new meaning in life and is able to break the shackles of her façade and become her true self, both on the inside and outside. There’s even a confrontation between her and her mother that thoroughly explains why she pressures her since childhood. This film was pretty well-acted and had a high storytelling ability. The story is well-developed and unique and is one of the strongest merits. Though at times it is cookie-cutter, as most movies are, I actually feel the story of her life could not be properly told without the formulaic story arc. The cookie-cutter plot actually furthers the script and character development. A fine job even though it suffers from pacing issues. A movie that 10 years later highlights the all-consuming nature of fame, the pressures of superstardom, and demands made on women with an elevated performance by Gugu-Mbatha Raw searching for her authentic self. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/14/24 Full Review Alec B Despite predictable clichés and one really boring performance, Prince-Bythewood still constructed a surprisingly low key and mature love story. For something I assumed would be terrible, it's a remarkable accomplishment. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/13/23 Full Review R C I watch anything directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and then add Gugu as the lead character Noni? Get outta here! Watched this with my family of 5 and everyone enjoyed it. Noni's compelling journey was captured by Gugu's portrayal so poignantly and we all pretended we weren't crying when Noni showed her real hairstyle. Not to be outdone is the journey of her cop love interest. Highly recommend! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/16/23 Full Review Steve D Jus because you know where it is going does not mean you won't have a good time getting there. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/20/23 Full Review isla s I found this film overall a bit too predictable and even cheesy - mostly from a moralistic standpoint, in as much as the tale of a stage mum pushing her child, without her necessarily fully recognising it, has certainly been done before. Seeing where she went and things made me think of Amy Winehouse, while other aspects of the main character made me think of Rhianna, mostly in terms of looks early on in the film (after the initial scene of her as a child). There are some nice songs played, if your ok with listening to some hip hop type music as well. The Nina Simone song Blackbird is mentioned and sung more than once in this film and I can't say I was aware of it beforehand - it was certainly a poignant song. The performances are ok and its not a really bad film to watch as such but it felt a bit too preachy in terms of the obvious moral story side of things and I feel similar tales have been covered by multiple other Hollywood films, so to me this film didn't really stand out as such. Its not a bad film but its certainly not a great one either. Distinctly average. Would I recommend it? no, not as such due to what I just said. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member "BEYOND THE LIGHTS" tells the story of a young rising artist who tries to take her own life. Gogu Mbatha looks great and delivers excellent performances both singing and. The story ends up getting lost when trying to create a bond between the protagonist that saves her life and today the relationship between them is very superficial and without chemistry. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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