Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil
Premise - Singer/songwriter Demi Lovato's first documentary since their near-fatal 2018 overdose gives context to the life circumstances leading up to the overdose, the overdose itself, and the recovery since the overdose. The documentary is released in promotion with their studio album featuring a song of the same name, "Dancing with the Devil," referring to Demi's lifelong struggle with drug use.
Review - I watched this after watching the 2017 documentary, Simply Complicated, that talks about Demi's sobriety and knowing the context that they would overdose no long afterwards. Having become somewhat attached now to the story of their life while watching the very well-produced Simply Complicated, I was obnoxiously curious to see the follow-up.
Because multiple documentaries have now been made on Demi's life, there really wasn't the need to go into the full history of Demi's life yet again. This documentary, thereby, was solely meant to uncover the events of the overdose. This was alright for me, as someone who just watched a previous documentary, but it makes it difficult as a stand-alone if you are not as familiar with Demi's career.
It also makes it worrisome that this is not the final chapter. Every documentary prior has been presented as "and now Demi is about to live the rest of her (now their) life!" and it's like... no... something is always around the corner. This documentary was more transparent that the struggle hasn't ended yet, so we'll see what happens next.
The discussions of recovery are about harm reduction, knowing that addiction will be a lifelong struggle. The comments from family members, interviewees, and even audience members was VERY mixed and controversial. Elton John, for example, gave his very rigid comment that moderation does not work for addiction. Demi argues back that while it may not work for some, it works for them. Demi is an incredibly black and white thinker, and therefore to say drugs are all or nothing can produce a very dangerous rebound effect. I am all for harm reduction when it works for people, and seeing the negative responses to harm reduction was disturbing to say the least. I hope it works out for Demi.
Quote - “A one-size-fits-all solution does not work for everybody. Any path
that is right for someone else does not mean that it is an effective,
meaningful, safe path for you"- Demi's comments on harm reduction.
What to watch for - As always, I like the musical content. I don't follow Demi's music very closely but whenever I hear them sing, it's incredible.
If you liked this film, I'd recommend Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated for more historical context!
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