Whitney

This film tells the story about a fallen queen, showing material from her piteous last appearances as well as the shining and glory shows of earlier days including goose bump effects due to her impressive voice.

Although Kevin McDonald was given a lot of access to Whitney Houston’s private life including interviews with close friends and family members, as well as exclusive private film material from Robyn Crawford and Bobbie Brown exposing a dreadful sad secret out of her childhood, the documentary tends to be fundamentally, telling the story about Whitney which is already known. 

A beautiful singer with the most incredible voice the world has ever heard but a dark and struggling “private” live.

Similar to the Broomfield movie, there is a strange sense of talking around the truth but never quite getting right into it. Even the big reveal isn’t definitive and the movie is certainly missing out on showing all the different nuances of Houston’s career, always jumping from big highlights straight to her downs.

★★ ½

Reviewed by Lili Sekkai