Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Biopic of Amy Winehouse Is Getting Slammed for This ‘Baseless & Sensationalist’ Scene

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

As many people know, the Amy Winehouse biopic is about to come out next month. However, the Sam Taylor-Johnson biopic Back to Black already has a bunch of reviews it, and they’re not the greatest. In fact, many are blasting the film for the ending.

While we don’t know the exact plot, we do know the synopsis. Per IMDb, it’s “The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time.” So, it’s obviously a biopic about the life and all-too-soon death of the music icon, and apparently, the ending horrified critics.

More from SheKnows

Sam Taylor-Johnson. Photo By: Elizabeth Goodenough/Everett Collection.
Sam Taylor-Johnson. Photo By: Elizabeth Goodenough/Everett Collection.

In fact, the Evening Standard’s Hamish Macbain called the film a “poor, poor piece of filmmaking,” saying, “This is a film that does not paint a nice or fair picture of her as a human, nor get across how special an artist she was. The final scene, in particular, with its completely and utterly baseless, sensationalist implications, made me physically gasp in horror.”

There have also been criticisms about the glamorization of her relationship with her husband, how it doesn’t talk about the important issues that plagued her life, and more. (However, critics have said Marisa Abela’s portrayal of Winehouse is exceptional, per DailyMail).

But back to the ending, many are quite frightened over what it could be. And it’s another red flag that Winehouse’s family was barely involved in the biopic.

Amy Winehouse. Photo by: Michael Germana/Everett Collection.
Amy Winehouse. Photo by: Michael Germana/Everett Collection.

Taylor-Johnson even said Empire, “It was important to meet with them out of respect. But they have no involvement in terms of… like, they couldn’t change things. They couldn’t dictate how I was to shoot. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done it.”

She added, “And I didn’t need the family’s approval. All the music rights were approved by Universal and Sony. So what I wanted as much as possible was the truth of Amy, and Amy’s relationship was that she loved her dad, whether we think he did right or wrong.”

See the trailer below:

Before you go, click here to see movies directed by women you should watch right now. 

Zazie Beetz
Zazie Beetz

Best of SheKnows

Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.