Blu-ray Review: BACK TO BLACK

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Aug 04 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

The 2024 biopic Back to Black explores the life and music of English singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse, from her rise to fame at age 18, to her life and musical career being tragically cut short less than a decade later. At age 18, Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela) was already a talented singer, living with her mother Janis (Juliet Cowan) in London, and taking the odd gig here and there. She would often spend time with her father, Mitch (Eddie Marsan), who helped to manage her career, and her beloved grandmother Cynthia (Lesley Manville), whom she saw as her style icon (and who inspired her iconic beehive hairdo). Amy loved jazz, and used this as her inspiration, writing very personal songs related to her own life experiences. She performed her music in pubs and smaller venues. For her, making music wasn’t about the money, but rather telling her own stories—she wanted to be known for just being herself. And so, when she catches the eye of, and is offered a deal from Simon Fuller’s production company, she’s a bit hesitant—she is not and never will be a Spice Girl, and doesn’t want people telling her how she should look, act and sing.

One day Amy meets the charming Blake (Jack O’Connell) in a pub, and the passion between them is palpable right from the get go. They form an instant connection, and seem to share a lot of the same musical interests. They are both old souls. However, Blake is a bit of a bad boy, into tattoos and drugs, and this starts to wear off on Amy as well. At the same time, Amy is starting to feel pressure from her record company to change things up after her first album fails to take off with American audiences. Plus, a loss in the family, relationship trouble, and being in the constant eye of the paparazzi start to send her over the edge. Amy’s life is in a downward spiral, and those who should be encouraging to seek help, like her father, are acting more like enablers, ignoring her problems.

Back to Black comes from director Sam Taylor-Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey) and writer Matt Greenhalgh (Control), who are no strangers to the musician biopic. They previously worked together on the 2009 John Lennon-based film Nowhere Boy. While the film does delve into Amy’s downfall, it plays things very safe, focusing more on this romance and love story between Amy and Blake, and also serves as a love letter to the moments in Amy’s life that inspired many of her songs. The film nearly skips over the fact that her father was the one somewhat advocating against her going to rehab—we just see a couple brief moments where he agrees with Amy when she suggest that she’ll just let her music be her rehab. The film also doesn’t even mention Amy’s relationship with Reg Traviss, the man she was seeing at the time of her death. And it puts more of this glossy fairytale finish to her story, with her final chapter just explained away via text on the screen.

That said, star Marisa Abela is phenomenal in the role, really transforming herself into the iconic singer, both in looks and in sound. Abela was not a singer, but took lessons in order to perform Winehouse’s music for the film, and she does an excellent job in this regard. The filmmakers have also done an amazing job of recreating some of Winehouse’s more iconic moments in nearly perfect detail, such as her 2008 Grammy performance.

While the story may be a little more sugar-coated than I would have liked, it was still an entertaining watch, particularly for Abela’s performance, and I think Winehouse fans should enjoy it.

Universal has released Back To Black on Blu-ray and DVD, and it is also available in 4K digitally. We received the Blu-ray release for review. The picture generally looks great, with a clean, detailed picture and an excellent level of detail throughout. The audio track is also really well done, providing clear dialogue and making excellent use of the room to bring Amy’s performances to life. Whether she’s singing in a small pub, in a larger jazz club, or on the massive Glastonbury stage, the acoustics are well-crafted to make you feel like you are right there in that venue. There’s even one scene where a song transitions from one venue to another, and it’s amazing how the sound seamlessly opens up to fill that larger space.

The Blu-ray release only includes a single disc, which resides in standard HD keepcase, along with a glossy carboard slipcover, and an insert containing a code to redeem for an HD MA digital copy of the film. The disc includes about 11 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast and filmmakers as well as a director commentary.

What’s Included:

Film: (2:02:40)

1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English DVS (Descriptive Video Service), Spanish 7.1 DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, French 7.1 DTS-HD High Resolution Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital (code may not be valid after 9/30/2025):

HD Digital Copy (Movies Anywhere compatible)

Extras:
Play All, or select from:

Transforming Into an Icon (7:47)
The filmmakers and cast discuss finding their Amy, the training and research involved to get her to capture the look and essence of the singer without doing an impression, and recreating iconic looks and performances. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/executive producer Sam Taylor-Johnson, producer Alison Owen, movement coach Sara Green, vocal coach Anne-Marie Speed, music producer Giles Martin, hair & makeup designer Peta Dunstall, costume designer PC Williams, and stars Marisa Abela (“Amy”), Juliet Cowan (“Janis”), Jack O’Connell (“Blake”) & Eddie Marsan (“Mitch”).
Music as the Heartbeat (3:09)
The cast and filmmakers talk about how the music is the heart of the film, and bringing in Any’s original band to keep things authentic. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/executive producer Sam Taylor-Johnson, music producer Giles Martin, band music advisors Dale Davis & Ade Omotayo, producer Alison Owen, and star Marisa Abela.
Feature Commentary with Director Sam Taylor-Johnson (2:02:40)
Director Sam Taylor-Johnson gives a passionate and insightful commentary, providing lots of interesting factoids behind some of the moments depicted in the film, discussing Marisa’s singing lessons, sharing behind-the-scenes stories about the production, the journey of Amy’s tattoos, the filming locations & sets, and more.

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Worth a Look

Back to Back is a pretty safe biopic, opting to go for more of a positive look at Amy Winehouse’s life and career, giving her story more of a romantic feel, and celebrating the origins of many of her hit songs. It glosses over a lot of the more tragic moments in her life, relegating much of this to a footnote at the end of the film. That said, the film features an amazing and captivating performance by star Marisa Abela, who really embodies the look and essence of the iconic singer, and does an amazing job of performing Winehouse’s music, especially for someone who wasn’t a singer going into the project. Universal’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, but is a bit minimal when it comes to bonus material. For those on the fence about a blind buy, the film is currently streaming on Peacock. But either way, I think it’s worth a watch, especially for Winehouse fans.