Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé

The movie’s presentation of her whole personhood adds sweetness to the spectacle, and drives home the outro of “My House,” a thumping new Beyoncé track that plays under the credits: “Pick me up even if I fall/ Let love heal us all, us all, us all.”

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé is a true odyssey, a maximalist explosion of sparkles and beats and visuals and insight.

Throughout Beyoncé’s career, it’s been made to appear that this woman is something closer to deity than one of us. She is the closest thing to perfection, a once-in-a-lifetime talent. But what’s made her so spectacular to us is, privately, exhausting. Renaissance is the merging of the two, showing us the sheer amount of determination and work it takes to produce a show like Renaissance, and the toll it takes on the very human woman behind it all.

While viewers should yearn for Beyoncé to allow others access to tell her story, we’re left with a stunning self-portrait that shows Beyoncé embracing her flaws, using them to improve, and passing on her hard-fought wisdom both in her home and on the stage.

The movie — and maybe Beyoncé’s life — is a constant negotiation between giving viewers that perfect show they crave and these moments of spontaneity. “Renaissance” as a whole sometimes struggles to find that balance, as it moves through all of its different and equally intriguing ideas. But maybe that’s the point.

Even if the concert sequences don’t completely do justice to the thrill of seeing this show in person, this documentary offers an in-depth souvenir of both the show itself and of this particular chapter in the ongoing saga of one of popular culture’s most intriguing, unpredictable, and powerful creators.

There is no star of such magnitude who more cunningly positions themselves as apolitical than Beyoncé. Her performance as an icon is meant to connect with the broadest number of people possible. To do that, her refusal to stand for anything specific beyond the watered-down treatises on Black excellence must be maintained.

She has done it again! This film bursts out in the energy you could feel in those very same stadiums. Bringing together a community into a place of joy, peace and happiness to create an escape out of our reality and into the Renaissance.

Felt boring sometimes and maybe too long, but it was an amazing experience overall. Thank you Beyoncé for your time and dedication into art (music and performance). You save many lives with this and create a spark with what you create.

Pretty conflicted on this. Beyonce's stamina and technical skills as a singer and dancer are beyond reproach and are fun to see. It's also refreshing to see an artist involved in every element of a show's production whereas she could surely pass a lot of duties to others. The sheer spectacle and fun of the concert comes to a grinding halt however during many of the documentary portions. Beyonce represents the American ethos of self-assured individualism about as well anyone in this film and it's hard to not feel that her approach to work sometimes veers into self-aggrandizement. It's wonderful to see the work of her many collaborators but did we also really need to see Beyonce overriding and belittling their advice? The implication in these sequences is that she is consistently combatting laziness, corner cutters and compromisers. She alone can do it. In the era of strongman politicians and megalomaniacal billionaires, is this really what we need to see? Beyonce addresses her take no guff attitude head one in at least one voiceover, saying it doesn't preclude empathy. Nice to hear but well it would been better to see, and maybe have the impression for at least a solitary moment that humility and accountability factored into the show and its music.

Perdoe-me Beyoncé, mas isso aqui não é cinema, sequer é um show, dado que pega retalhos de vários shows. É uma espécie de videoclipe com 3h de duração, e com uma péssima edição que intercala bastidores a cada 15 minutos, fazendo com que a imersão vai para o espaço. E não ter "Halo", "If i were a boy" nem "Singles Ladies"? Quê?

I suppose if you're a fan of Beyonce you'll likely give 'Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce' a great score. If however, like me, you found Beyonce's 'Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce' overrated, self-serving and a little facile then you'd probably want to give Beyonce's 'Renaissance A Film by Beyonce' - 2 stars.