Reviews

SXSW 2021: Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil

Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil (2021 | USA | 98 minutes | Michael D. Ratner)

In 2018 Demi Lovato, who had been publicly sober since age 19, suffered a massive drug overdose in her home and nearly died. The incident upended her life, shattered her public image, and shelved a massive world tour and accompanying behind-the-scenes documentary as the singer put the pieces of her life back together. Three years later, after several stints in rehab, a dramatic 2020 Grammys performance, and months of Covid-19 quarantine gave her time for spiritual growth and personal reckoning, she and director Michael D. Ratner have emerged with a docu-series that allows her and her closest allies to tell the harrowing story in her own words, conveniently timed to the launch of a new album. All four episodes of the series played as the opening night headliner for this year’s virtual SXSW Film programming.

The result is a documentary that reflects an artist desperately seeking a sense of control, this time over her own narrative. Her stories are frank, candid, and intentionally shocking, running the gamut of eating disorders, drug abuse, and sexual assault. The throughline of the story is one of star, in the spotlight from a very young age, who has constantly struggled with the constraints of the public eye and rigid structures to protect her health and image. There is certainly power in the first-hand accounts of these incidents from Lovato and her closest friends: the details of the overdose, the severe health consequences, and the dangers of the fentanyl-laced heroin that nearly killed her make for a deeply cautionary tale. Some of these stories could fill a feature-length film, but rather than digging too deep, the series yearns to get everything on the table. It rushes through relapses, decisions to try moderation, a quarantine engagement that falls apart, hints at a new queer identity, renegotiation of past psychiatric diagnoses, all told in a much-needed protective sphere of her closest supporters (including a surprising “good guy edit” from Scooter Braun, known most widely as the nefarious manager who parted Taylor Swift from the rights to her beloved songs). The only mildly contrarian voice in the film is an ill-fitting appearance from Elton John, who celebrates Lovato’s talent while daring to briefly criticize her new approach to sobriety.

Strategically doled out over 98 minutes, these confessions increasingly feel like an exhausting cycle of withholding and revelation, a storyteller eager to get a reaction from the next bombshell and to leave audiences eager for the next episode. The series may be a powerful step in Lovato’s journey, with the kind of access that millions of her fans will happily devour, but by the time the dramatic surprises turn to the likes of break-ups, haircuts, and an impending album drop, the returns for a casual viewer are limited and diminishing.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil will premiere on YouTube beginning on March 23rd.