I was reminded quite often of “Vox Lux” (2018) as this docudrama shines it’s spotlight on the fickleness and traumas of the music business. Charlie XCX plays herself as a young artist walking the tightrope of her own creative ambitions and the commercial expectations of the business that is making her a wealthy woman. With one successful album already under her belt she and her small team of confidantes now find the yanks taking more of an interest thanks to Rosanna Arquette’s non-nonsense record company boss “Tammy” - and that means a documentary of her build up to a live concert. She’s unconvinced, but so long as her creative director “Celeste” (Hailey Gates) is in charge, she will indulge. Ha! No chance. They have drafted in “Johannes” (Alexander Skarsgård) to beef things up, tones things down and channel her energies into something more akin to the glowing wristband experience of a Coldplay concert. Exasperated, she takes a break in Ibiza where she makes a fairly hefty online faux-pas that leaves her entirely exposed to the more venal elements of her industry and she, quite literally, dangling from the ceiling (or hiding in an eight foot tall cigarette lighter). I reckon this is really one for her fans, of whom there are plenty. For the rest of us, though, it doesn’t ever really catch fire. Lots of expletive-ridden dialogue, chain smoking and temper tantrums later I didn’t think this told me anything about the music business that I didn’t already know. If anything what this does illustrate is that when she had complete control as an aspiring singer-songwriter, she produced something heartfelt, honest and relevant to her audience. Now that the marketeers have got their hands on her, though, things lose their edge and become more generically sterilised. Is it supposed to be a satirical critique of her life or an all too realistic one? Perhaps she ought to have waited five years or so to make this and then she could have provided some more answers. As it is, it is little better than a well produced but fairly shallow dose of self-indulgence about someone whose endurance is yet to be tested by an exceptionally volatile consumer.
