When I’m endlessly scouting through the best streaming services for something to watch, there’s one thing I can always rely on for a comfort watch: a good music movie. With the new movie BLACKPINK World Tour [Born Pink] now out in cinemas, I feel it’s only appropriate for me to break down my five favorite music movies (both concert films and documentaries) on streaming – all of which happen to have scored over 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, because my taste is nothing short of excellent.
The list includes all the top tier pop girls, such as Beyoncé and of course Taylor Swift. Each of these music movies blend elements of concert performance with documentary footage that brings the creative process of the artist to the forefront, giving you an insight to what it takes to put together an album or heart-stopping performance.
Music movies are something I can always rely on platforms like Netflix, Disney Plus, and Max for, whether I want to watch something that’ll educate me on iconic events in music’s history or if I just want to relive a live gig over and over again. They say that music works the world go around, and I couldn’t agree more.
Netflix
Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé (2019)
RT Score: 98%
Length: 137 minutes
Director: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
When Beyoncé became the first Black woman to headline Coachella in 2018, no one could’ve seen the scale of her performance coming not to mention the cultural impact that followed which is still spoken about to this day. In addition to its accompanying live album, Homecoming is a concert movie and documentary hybrid like no other, and a personal favorite of mine when considering one of the best Netflix movies. It’s a complete showcase of Beyoncé’s Coachella performance, which put HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) culture at the forefront, weaving in behind-the-scenes documentation of how her creativity, emotion, and determination fuelled an incredibly ambitious project.
Disney Plus
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020)
RT Score: 100%
Length: 106 minutes
Director: Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift’s pandemic album and AOTY Grammy-winner Folklore is – in my opinion – her most nuanced work to date, and her Long Pond Studio Sessions movie deep dives into her creative process as a songwriter during this era. With music producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, the three reunite after recording the album thousands of miles apart due to Covid-19 to play all 17 songs live in a cozy and secluded cabin-style studio in upstate New York. Swift sits down to talk about each track in depth prior to performing them, elaborating on the characters and stream of consciousness she creates as an extension of her internal relationships with love and fame.
Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles (2021)
RT Score: 100%
Length: 85 minutes
Director: Robert Rodriguez
For as young as she is, Billie Eilish has proved herself to be a pop music auteur in her own right bringing the once under-looked genre of bedroom pop into the mainstream. In her short movie, she makes her Disney Plus debut with a show at the Hollywood Bowl following the release of her sophomore album Happier Than Ever (2021), playing each song in order. It’s a close-up and intimate performance of an album that reverts to downtempo and electropop sounds, a contrasting difference to her debut. We don’t include music movies in our picks of the best Disney Plus movies but we might have to reconsider now.
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
RT Score: 99%
Length: 117 minutes
Director: Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson
Thompson’s debut as a filmmaker takes us all the back to the summer of ’69, when all eyes were on the first Woodstock festival – and not the Harlem Cultural Festival. Summer of Soul is a music documentary and history lesson on how soul and gospel-centric music event the Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed, but never released to the public until now. With rare concert performances from Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, and Ray Baretto, Summer of Soul highlights how music has always been an important remedy for dealing with times of trouble and social injustice.
Max
Gaga Chromatica Ball (2024)
RT Score: 100%
Length: 118 minutes
Director: Lady Gaga
Seeing the Chromatica Ball live in London in 2022 was my summer highlight, and now I get to rejoice in all of those emotions over again. In front of a sold-out crowd of 52,000 people at Dodger Stadium in L.A., Gaga returns to the stage for her Chromatica Ball tour, supporting her dance-pop record Chromatica (2020). Performing her most famous singles and deeper cuts from her discography, Gaga combines choreography, striking visuals, elaborate costume changes, and insane vocals to create one encapsulating spectacle that would give a lot of the best Max movies a run for their money – along with a little tease of what’s next to come.
