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One of 2024’s most talked about movies has just been added to Netflix

Stephen Porzio

Though the film earned very mixed reviews from critics, it seems to have been better received by the public.

Back to Black, the 2024 much-publicised music biopic about Amy Winehouse, has just been added to Netflix.

Marisa Abela (one of the stars of the HBO drama Industry) plays the legendary British singer-songwriter in the movie which charts the icon’s “vibrant years living in London and her intense journey to fame”.

Written by Matt Greenhalgh and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (who both worked on John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy), the film’s cast also features Jack O’Connell (Ferrari) as Winehouse’s husband Blake Fielder-Civil, as well as Eddie Marsan (Fair Play) and Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread).

The knives were out for Back to Black ahead of its release, with fans of Amy Winehouse wondering if it would be possible for an actress to embody the iconic late singer and if a Hollywood biopic would be able to portray her life in a sensitive but realistic manner.

Upon its cinema release in April of this year, the biopic proved divisive – though Abela’s performance was widely praised.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie received a lowly 35% critics score but an impressive 86% audience score.

It’s worth mentioning that we here at JOE gave the film a mostly positive write-up, while also acknowledging its flaws.

Our review read:

“The best parts of Back to Black are in its first half. This is when we get to see a side to Winehouse people may be less familiar with – her as a young woman in early 2000s London as she takes her experiences in the city and uses it as the basis for her incredible music.

“During this early stretch, Abela and screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh paint a believable portrait of Winehouse as a naturally vibrant, strong-willed, rightfully confident in her abilities artist who also felt things very deeply and chased experiences and was interested in the grittiness of everyday life.

“They are ably supported by Taylor-Johnson’s stylish, woozy direction that captures the excitement of being young and creating art and falling love. Indeed, the romantic scene in which Winehouse meets and falls for with Blake Fielder-Civil (an excellent Jack O’Connell), who she would go on to have a notoriously ill-fated relationship with, is one for the ages.

“This part of the movie is enough to cautiously recommend fans of Winehouse or music in general give it a chance, although one almost wishes the filmmakers had found a way to make the entirety of the biopic focused on just this part of her life.

“That’s because Back to Black is on noticeably less sure footing when it comes to Winehouse’s later troubles, with Greenhalgh and Taylor-Johnson not quite communicating them all in a way that rings consistently true.

“There is a feeling that some of the more difficult details regarding Winehouse’s addiction and other mental health struggles have been sanitised. Also, given that the biopic has the support of the singer’s estate, many viewers have taken issue with the movie’s rather sympathetic portrayal of the pop star’s father Mitch (Eddie Marsan).”

Back to Black is streaming on Netflix in the UK and Ireland right now.