Movie · 2015 · Documentary, Music · 2h 8m · R · English
Curator score: 8.7/10 (182.4K ratings)
The girl behind the name.
Overview
A documentary on the life of Amy Winehouse, the immensely talented yet doomed songstress. We see her from her teen years, where she already showed her singing abilities, to her finding success and then her downward spiral into alcoholism and drugs.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.7/10
IMDb: 7.8/10
Letterboxd: 4.04/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Metacritic: 85
TMDB: 7.6/10
Director
Asif Kapadia
Production
On the Corner Films, Globe Productions, Film4 Productions
Cast
Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, Tony Bennett, Pete Doherty, Juliette Ashby, Yasiin Bey, Mitch Winehouse, Tyler James, Nick Shymansky, Salaam Remi, Blake Fielder-Civil
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A devastating, tightly constructed documentary that turns archival footage into a tragic portrait of extraordinary talent, exploitation, and self-destruction. It’s emotionally punishing but formally sharp and deeply affecting, especially for viewers interested in music docs that feel like character studies.
Best for
fans of intimate music documentaries
viewers drawn to tragic celebrity stories
people interested in archival filmmaking
audiences who want emotionally intense nonfiction
those curious about the pressures of fame and addiction
Skip if
you want an uplifting or feel-good documentary
you’re sensitive to addiction and self-harm material
you prefer talking-head interviews and conventional biography
you want a broad survey of the music industry rather than one life story
Overview
Amy is less a standard biography than a slow-motion tragedy assembled from the evidence of a life lived in public. By relying almost entirely on archival material, it creates a sense of proximity that is both exhilarating and painful: we watch a singular voice emerge, then see the machinery of fame close in around it.
Worth noting
What makes the film so effective is its refusal to soften the damage. The music is there, of course, but so are the enablers, the tabloid hunger, and the emotional isolation that made the spiral feel inevitable. It’s a film about talent, but even more about vulnerability and the cost of being consumed by an audience before you’ve had a chance to become yourself.
Bottom line
The result is heartbreaking, but also clarifying. It leaves you with a stronger sense of Amy Winehouse as an artist than as a cautionary tale, which is exactly why it lands so hard. This is one of the most accomplished and painful music documentaries of its era.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Jim Cummings (5★) · 2602 likes
The way she says to her father in the crowd, "Dad... Tony Bennett" when he's presenting her the Grammy. When she finally meets with him and it's unglamorous and she says "I just don't want to be wasting your time", and he has to comfort her and calm her down, "I have nothing else to do today."
And then they wheel out her little body and the first voice is Tony Bennett's saying what a wonderfully original voice in music… more The way she says to her father in the crowd, "Dad... Tony Bennett" when he's presenting her the Grammy. When she finally meets with him and it's unglamorous and she says "I just don't want to be wasting your time", and he has to comfort her and calm her down, "I have nothing else to do today."
And then they wheel out her little body and the first voice is Tony Bennett's saying what a wonderfully original voice in music… more
Sarah Jane 🔪 (4★) · 1880 likes
Mitchell Winehouse and Blake Fielder are both such supreme cocks and are so repellent. They have both been added to people I want to punch in the face.
Stephanie (4.5★) · 1683 likes
men destroy every good thing. everything.
anjy (4.5★) · 1240 likes
“Jules, this is so boring without drugs.”
A thoughtful, gripping, heartbreaking, harrowing account of Amy Winehouse in life and death.
Leah 🥀 (4★) · 1212 likes
Slow down, you're too important.
she was. she really was.