Movie · 2024 · Documentary, Music · 1h 42m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 3.1/10 (13K ratings)
He risked everything to find himself.
Overview
Sir Elton John looks back on his life and the astonishing early days of his 50-year career in this emotionally charged, full-circle journey. As he prepares for his final concert in North America at Dodger Stadium, Elton takes us back in time and recounts his struggles with adversity, abuse, and addiction, and how he overcame them to become the icon he is today.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.1/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.17/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Metacritic: 61
TMDB: 6.6/10
Director
R. J. Cutler, David Furnish
Production
This Machine Filmworks, Rocket Pictures, Submarine Entertainment
Cast
Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Dua Lipa, John Lennon, David Furnish, Alex Petridis, Yoko Ono, Steve Brown, Gus Dudgeon, Paul Buckmaster, Tony King, Mike Hewitson, Cliff Jahr, Andrew Watt
Where to watch
Disney Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A polished, emotionally sincere Elton John portrait with strong archival access and a clear sense of farewell, but the structure can feel uneven and more like a highlights reel than a fully satisfying life story. Best if you want the music, the nostalgia, and the emotional closure of a legacy documentary; less so if you want a rigorous or deeply probing biography.
Best for
Elton John fans
viewers who enjoy performance-led music documentaries
audiences interested in fame, addiction, and recovery stories
people looking for a sentimental farewell piece
fans of archival concert footage and backstage history
Skip if
you want a tightly constructed documentary narrative
you prefer deep investigative journalism over celebratory retrospection
you are not already interested in Elton John or his music
you want a full concert film rather than a career overview
Overview
Elton John: Never Too Late is at its best when it leans into the emotional contradiction at the center of its subject: a man living a glittering public life while privately wrestling with pain, loneliness, and addiction. The archival material is often the main attraction, and the film knows how to make the scale of Elton John’s career feel both enormous and oddly intimate.
Worth noting
The documentary’s farewell framing gives it a natural poignancy, especially around the final North American concert and the long arc back to the artist’s origins. It is less convincing as a piece of storytelling than as a scrapbook of a singular career, and some viewers may wish it dug harder or organized its material with more discipline.
Bottom line
Still, there is real value in the film’s warmth and candor. Even when it feels familiar, it captures the emotional cost of stardom and the hard-won relief of survival. For fans, it plays like a closing chapter that is more heartfelt than definitive, but often moving enough to justify the ride.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Jack Moulton (3.5★) · 398 likes
Elton John (video): having the time of his life
Elton John (audio): i'm so *bleep*ing miserable
Eddie @ The Cottage (4★) · 371 likes
Sir Elton bestie I know you're retiring from music and everything but I hope you can serve humanity one last time by stopping Emilia Perez from winning the Best Song award at the Oscar this year please I'm on my knees 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Edit: HUMANITY LOST 💔💔
Ella Kemp (2★) · 216 likes
Such an incredible amount of archival material to choose from, and yet! A mess, somehow undermines both journalism and the storytelling possibility of live music at once? Made me want to rewatch Rocketman. I just don’t trust Cutler with musicians, and think it’s way harder to edit together properly than it seems.
Barmilliv (3★) · 189 likes
O gosto pessoal pode variar, mas a grandiosidade de Elton John é inegável. Compositor de canções e álbuns icônicos, dono de um estilo inconfundível na música e na aparência, ele marcou gerações ao longo de cinco décadas de sucesso. Em uma entrevista conduzida apenas por áudio, sua voz e a de um jornalista guiam a narrativa de sua trajetória, explorando conquistas, inspirações, amores e desafios — um universo tão grandioso quanto solitário. A montagem combina imagens de arquivo desde os… more O gosto pessoal pode variar, mas a grandiosidade de Elton John é inegável. Compositor de canções e álbuns icônicos, dono de um estilo inconfundível na música e na aparência, ele marcou gerações ao longo de cinco décadas de sucesso. Em uma entrevista conduzida apenas por áudio, sua voz e a de um jornalista guiam a narrativa de sua trajetória, explorando conquistas, inspirações, amores e desafios — um universo tão grandioso quanto solitário. A montagem combina imagens de arquivo desde os… more
Luca Bruno (2★) · 188 likes
Hey, remember how Elton John shaped one of the most popular Disney soundtracks ever or how he sang at Lady Di's funeral in 1997 and released the second highest-selling physical single of all time? Because this documentary about Elton's life doesn't.