2020 documentary film by Lana Wilson
Miss Americana (also known as Taylor Swift: Miss Americana) is a 2020 American documentary film that follows the singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and her life over the course of several years of her career. It was directed by Lana Wilson, produced by Tremolo Productions, and released to Netflix and select theaters on January 31, 2020. The film is titled after "Miss Americana &amp; the Heartbreak Prince", a 2019 song by Swift.
The film has been described as an unvarnished and emotionally revealing look at Swift, during a metamorphic phase in her life, as she learns to accept her role as not only a singer-songwriter and entertainer, but as an influential woman "harnessing the full power of her voice." It is set in the time period spanning from Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) to the release roll-out of her seventh studio album "Lover" (2019), dotted with flashback video clips portraying several undisclosed events of her life and career.
Premiering at the opening night of 2020 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2020, "Miss Americana" was praised for its emotion, intimacy, and vulnerable topics. Reviews complimented Swift's honesty and personality. Accompanying the film's release, "Only the Young", a song by Swift featured in the end credits, was released as a promotional single. "Miss Americana" was selected by the National Board of Review as one of the five best documentaries of 2020. Publications have named it amongst the best Netflix films and biographical documentaries and regard it a pivotal moment for Swift's career.
Synopsis.
"Miss Americana" follows Swift during a transitional phase in her career, as she wraps up her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour and began creating her 2019 album "Lover", while covering several years of her life through a biographical compilation of interviews, flashbacks, studio footage, home videos, cellphone videos and concert recordings. It focuses on sensitive subjects that Swift often avoided in interviews, such as her past battle with body dysmorphia and eating disorder, her mother's cancer diagnosis, the toxic Internet culture and media scrutiny she faces, her sexual assault trial, and decision to go public with her political views, including LGBTQ+ allyship.
Netflix described the film as a "raw and emotionally revealing look" at Swift "during a transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer, but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice". The Sundance Institute outlined: "Director Lana Wilson offers a multifaceted window into Swift, her creative process, and her singular experience of being one of the brightest lights on the world's global stage. Showcasing Swift's trademark vulnerability and her fierce intelligence and wit, Wilson captures moments both tender and exhilarating as the superstar embarks on the latest chapter of her already extraordinary career."
Cast.
Additionally, the archive footages used in the documentary feature record producer Calvin Harris, singers Beyoncé, P!nk, Selena Gomez, Harry Styles, Shakira and Lenny Kravitz, music bands Dixie Chicks and Earth Wind &amp; Fire, model Kim Kardashian, rapper Kanye West, US politicians Marsha Blackburn and Donald Trump, actors Taylor Lautner and Tom Hiddleston, drag queens Jade Jolie and Riley Knoxx, television personalities Barbara Walters, Dan Harris, David Letterman, Erin Robinson, Graham Norton, Hoda Kotb, Jedediah Bila, Jenny Johnson, Jimmy Fallon, JuJu Chang, Nancy O'Dell, Nikki Glaser, Phil McGraw, Sara Haines, Stephen Colbert, Sunny Hostin, Whoopi Goldberg, and the entire "Fab 5" cast of "Queer Eye": Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness and Tan France.
Production.
Development.
Swift expressed interest in making a documentary with Netflix following the concert film "Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour", which premiered on the streaming platform in December 2018. She was provided with a list of potential directors, of which Wilson was one. Wilson began filming at the end of the "Reputation" album and tour cycle, and joined Swift for recording sessions of her subsequent album "Lover".
The title of the documentary is borrowed from "Miss Americana &amp; the Heartbreak Prince", the seventh track on "Lover", in which Swift expressed her disillusionment over the current state of United States politics.
Swift revealed the documentary in November 2019, when she said the owner and founder of her former label Big Machine Records, Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta respectively, blocked her from using older music and performance footage for the documentary. She added that the documentary does not mention Braun, Borchetta, or Big Machine. Big Machine denied the accusations in a statement. In response, a representative for Swift published an email from a Big Machine executive refusing to issue licences in connection to the documentary. In December, "Variety" reported Big Machine had cleared the use of Swift's older material for the film.
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;Needing to speak up about beliefs I'd always had, because it felt like an opportunity to shed light on what those trials are like. I experienced it as a person with extreme privilege, so I can only imagine what it's like when you don't have that. And I think one theme that ended up emerging in the film ["Miss Americana"] is what happens when you are not just a people pleaser but someone who's always been respectful of authority figures, doing what you were supposed to do, being polite at all costs. I still think it's important to be polite, but not at all costs. Not when you're being pushed beyond your limits, and not when people are walking all over you. I needed to get to a point where I was ready, able and willing to call out bullshit rather than just smiling my way through it.
Music.
The documentary includes the song "Only the Young", playing during the end credits, which was released as a promotional single alongside the film. The song was written by Swift after the 2018 United States elections, but did not make it on the track-list of "Lover". Upon release, the song received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised its politically charged lyrics that deal with gun violence and school shootings in the United States. "Only the Young" debuted and peaked at number one on the US "Billboard" Digital Song Sales chart, and entered the charts in several other countries.
Release and promotion.
In December 2019, Netflix revealed that the documentary was set to premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. In an interview with Chris Willman of "Variety", it was revealed that the opening act of the film deals with "juxtaposing the joys of creation with the aggravations of global stardom" while the second half is a "provocative turn focused on why Swift became a political animal". Willman wrote that the film further features clips capturing Swift's increasing LGBTQ allyship, Swift's reaction to her mother's cancer diagnosis, and Swift's response to her 2017 album "Reputation" not receiving any nominations in general categories at the 2019 Grammy Awards. Wilson stated that she views the movie as "looking at the flip side of being America's sweetheart", meant to shed light on the less-glamorous side of fame and stardom.
On January 15, 2020, Swift revealed the release date and a poster of the film through her social media accounts. Six days later, an official trailer to the film was released on YouTube and on Swift's social media accounts. On January 30, Swift announced the list of select theatres that will play "Miss Americana", for a limited time. It included 25 Alamo Drafthouse theatres and an iPic theatre in the United States, and the Prince Charles Cinema in the United Kingdom.
Critical reception.
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critics consensus reads: ""Miss Americana" provides an engaging if somewhat deliberately opaque backstage look at a pop star turned cultural phenomenon." On Metacritic, it has a mean score of 65 out of 100, based on 23 critics.
The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to praise and a standing ovation from the critics and audience. "Miss Americana" has been described as an intimate, genuine, funny and empowering film, documenting "her humble beginnings as a country-music star to her position as an influential figure in pop culture". Reviews complimented the film for Wilson's direction, and the "emotional heft" that came from Swift's vulnerable interviews discussing issues such as eating disorder, self esteem and sexual assault, and for capturing Swift's creative process as well.
Wesley Morris of "The New York Times" chose "Miss Americana" as his Critic's Pick, describing it as "85 minutes of translucence" with Swift, stating that she is "self-critical, grown up and ready, perhaps, to deliver a message beyond the music". Nancy Coleman, of the same publication, opined that the film "opens a rare, honest window on what makes this star [Swift] tick". Hannah Woodhead of "Little White Lies" said the film offers "unprecedented access to the notoriously private singer and her dizzying world" through "interviews, studio footage, home videos and concert recordings". She described it as "glossy, conventional, flicking between past and present with a warm intimacy" as Swift "bares her soul in this intimate, earnest docu-portrait". "Slash Film"'s Chris Evangelita termed the film a "dynamite crowd pleaser" and described it as "a sweet, surprisingly funny portrait of Taylor Swift growing up and getting political". Leslie Felperin of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote: "what's ultimately very endearing about Swift is her intelligence and self-awareness, qualities that also make her music compelling, sophisticated and capable of appealing both to adolescent kids and hipster musicologists". Writing for "The Salt Lake Tribune", Sean Means stated that the film is "an eye-opening look at Taylor Swift finding a new voice" and "shows Swift as an artist and activist just warming up for the next act". Amber Wilkinson of "The Times" wrote that the "intimate and open" documentary offers "a much more personal and open consideration of a star who has always been known for her onstage sound and who is now finding her political voice off stage too".
"The Atlantic"'s Spencer Kornhaber wrote that "Miss Americana" portrays "a pop star facing a daunting challenge—redefining success", acting as "a container for the dictates of supposedly meritocratic capitalist patriarchy". He added that the film does not depict a drastic change but rather "a tough, somewhat deflating process of self-recognition". "Decider"'s Anna Menta commented that "Wilson and her team captured moments that felt personal, vulnerable, and deeply authentic, and they did so with a skill and artistry that Instagram Live stories just can't match". Steve Pond of "TheWrap" pointed out that "the heart of "Miss Americana" is Taylor Swift telling us what she stands for on gay rights and women's rights, and what she's learned about the fate of being a woman in the public eye". "Glamour"'s Marie-Claire Chappet wrote: ""Miss Americana" shows Taylor is sick of the restrictive parameters set out for women in the spotlight. She defies her advisors and gets political — breaking her silence and following in the footsteps of the Dixie Chicks – with thankfully less damaging consequences. She begins using her voice for what she cares about – like LGBTQ rights – and stops caring if Twitter thinks she's over – if the industry doesn't think she's 'likeable'." "The New Yorker"'s Amanda Petrusich concluded that the "beautiful" film is "far more interesting than any acceptance speech, red-carpet interview, or paparazzi photo". In his Critic's Pick review, "IndieWire"'s David Ehrlich wrote that the power of "Miss Americana" is "watching someone who stands astride the world gradually realize that her art is the only thing that she can control", adding that Wilson is excellent at "splitting the difference that some of her documentary's most humanizing moments are beautiful for how they contradict Swift's intention". He concluded that "it's truly enough to make you feel like an asshole for ever thinking that Swift was some kind of Aryan crypto-fascist, and not just a mega-famous young woman who didn't yet love herself enough to be hated for her convictions".
In a two-star review for "The Guardian", Benjamin Lee found "Miss Americana" too stage-managed and a "brand management dressed up as insight". Nick Allen for "RogerEbert.com" said the film is "engineered to appease her fans and promote Swift's self-awareness". Mike Ryan of "Uproxx" wrote that the movie is "frustrating" due to its "lack of depth when discussing interesting issues", instead opting for victory montages. Beth Webb of "Empire" opined that "Miss Americana" does not have Swift break any new barriers.