I honestly don’t know how to begin this review without it immediately turning into a rant. I made it safely through Sia’s ‘Music’ while rolling my eyes and sighing, but this film should come with a trigger warning for woke people; ‘Music’ actively tries to kill you.
Kazu (Kate Hudson) is a recovering drug addict who is thrust into an adventure she can’t handle when she gets custody over her autistic half sister Music (Maddie Ziegler). With the help of her neighbour Ebo (Leslie Odom Jr.) and a number of helpful strangers, she tries to get her life back on track while trying to connect to the young girl.
Right off the bat this ill conceived musical had me pulling out my hair. I’m well aware that Sia probably didn’t mean to be so insensitive, but every little bit of backlash this movie has had online is deserved. Watching Ziegler contort her body and face in a music video choreography is one thing, seeing her do it as if that accurately portrays someone on the spectrum is mind-numbingly offensive.
As if kicking the shins of autistic people and their families wasn’t enough, Sia’s bewildering story also tackles drugs, alcohol, aids, adoption and domestic abuse. There may even be a topic I missed during one of my many consecutive eye-rolls. I’m baffled as to why both Hudson, Odom and a whole slew of cameo stars agreed to do this.
Seeing as this is a musical and Sia has a reputation for killer pop tracks, you might think the soundtrack would be a redeeming factor. Wrong again. Leslie Odom Jr. gets one ear worm, same as Hudson. Every other pop disaster is as forgettable and irritating as the childishly simple DIY sets they’re staged in.
Born out of good intentions, Sia might’ve been wearing one of her face covering wigs while writing and directing this outrageously offensive vanity project.
Review – ‘Music’
Reviewed online, February 16, 2021. Rating: M. Running time: 107 min.
PRODUCTION: A HanWay Films release of a Landay Entertainment, Atlantic Films, Crush Pictures, Pineapple Lasagne Productions, Warner Music Entertainment production. Producers: Vincent Landay, Sia. Executive producers: Len Blavatnik, Danny Cohen, Jonathan Daniel, Julie Greenwald, Craig Kallman, Will Weiske.
CREW: Director: Sia. Screenplay: Sia, Dallas Clayton. Cinematography: Sebastian Winterø. Editing: Matt Chesse, Curtiss Clayton, Dana Congdon. Music: Craig DeLeon (score by).
CAST: Maddie Ziegler, Mary Kay Place, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Braeden Marcott, Blair Williamson, Hector Elizondo, Ben Schwartz, Juliette Lewis, Kathy Najimy.