Love to Love You, Donna Summer (2023) User Reviews

VIEWS ON FILM review of Love to Love You, Donna Summer

[burlesonjesse5 · 6/10 · 24 May 2023]

As a kid born in the 70s and growing up in the 80s, there wasn't a time where I didn't hear a Donna Summer jam blaring on the radio in my parents car. Summer was the "Queen of Disco", the bad mama jama, her songs innovative and bumping, her moves sexy, her singing voice easily recognizable. Love to Love You, Donna Summer is a documentary about Donna's life that was cut short at the age of 63. "Let's dance this last dance tonight". Indeed.

At a running time of 107 minutes, "Love to Love You" guides you on a trip of hypnotic archive footage, home videos, and lively Summer performances that pretty much encapsulate the entire film. Director Roger Ross Williams, well he thinks in cuts, whisking you from one grainy frame to the next. His storytelling pertaining to Summer's journey is chronological yet sporadic, his imagery dreamy yet way too present. Love to Love You, Donna Summer while stimulating, ends abruptly, teetering on the edge of the unknown (or mildly known). As Summer sang in 1978, "heaven knows it's not the way it could be".

With "Love to Love You", the people being interviewed (Summer's husband, ex-husband, children, etc.) are people you never see. And with Summer being questioned herself, there's only snapshots of what she's thinking, it's all so ephemeral. Sure this docu is fun to look at and sure, who doesn't want to hear Summer kick the ballistics with tunes like "Last Dance", "Bad Girls", and "Hot Stuff". Nevertheless, Love to Love You, Donna Summer keeps the viewer at a weird sort of distance. It may tell you stuff about disco's pioneer that you didn't already know but at the same time, there's not enough Summer deets to burn both ends of the bass beat candle. I needed to "feel more love".

A well made documentary of a fascinating artist

[spk12371 · 8/10 · 21 May 2023]

I've been looking forward to seeing this since I first saw the trailer a month ago, and in almost all ways it met my expectations. Donna Summer was the first artist whose music I loved not only because it appealed to me, but because I was intrigued by the person. I started really getting into music at the same time disco and Donna hit it big in 1977-78, she was seemingly always on the radio, and for the next few years I devoured every album she released.

Love to Love You, Donna Summer is a pretty standard (not a bad thing at all) music documentary that definitely benefits from the co-director (Brooklyn Sudano, Donna's daughter)'s trove of home movies, album demos, and photos that really enable the viewer to see the many different sides of Donna. Interviews with her other two daughters and husband, in addition to some of Donna's partners musically and personally, offer additional insight into her too-short life.

The only thing I felt missing was a bit more of an in depth look at her music through the 80's and into the 21st century, but that's just the opinion of the music nerd in me. Ultimately, the doc is a long overdue examination (and love letter of sorts) of an incredibly influential, talented and popular musical force of nature.

An Engaging Watch!

[B-L-A-K-E-D · 8/10 · 4 June 2023]

I thought this documentary was great! The filmmakers made great usage of all the archived footage and interviews they had at their disposal. Hearing about Donna Summer's life story and home life was very surprising and introduced so many more layers that I never knew about before. In my opinion, if a documentary does it's job right, it will make you want to look up more information about the artist afterwards. My favorite music documentaries (Searching For Sugarman, A Band Called Death, Zappa, Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All) make you want to look up more about the subject after the film is done. This documentary makes me want to do exactly that, and I love it! If you have a chance to watch this film, do so.

Intimate, personal documentary.

[gortx · 5 June 2023]

An intimate documentary about the life and career of the 'Queen of Disco', Donna Summer. Co-Directed by Summer's daughter Brooklyn Sudano (with Roger Ross Williams), the movie takes a very personal viewpoint on the singer's career.

There is no formal narration, but, fortunately, Summer left behind a very large collection of personal recordings (she was an early adopter of home video cameras) and writings. As a superstar, her career was also well-documented which only added to the family's wealth of archive of material. There are no 'talking heads' per se; instead, the 'narration' is largely formed from those recordings.

It's a fairly nontraditional form for those expecting a more straightforward 'Behind The Music' biographical doc, but, it mostly works. It progresses more or less chronologically - save for an oddly placed segment that flash-forwards to the recording and release of 'Bad Girls'. The most interesting aspect to casual fans is the portion given over to her pre-disco career where she went from leaving her family in Massachusetts to doing the play 'Hair' to going to Europe to start her professional singing career. Once 'Love to Love You, Baby' came out, her image as a sexed up disco diva was set. It certainly jump-started her success, but, the doc shows that it came at a personal price both in her private relationships, and her mental and physical health.

The disco label made it difficult for Summer to transition to non-dance oriented music, and like the Bee Gees, it hurt her on a commercial level, as well (she only had one Top 10 single after 1982). Even at the height of her fame she tried to break out beyond the image, but it was too strong to many. She continued to record up until a few years before her passing.

LOVE TO LOVE YOU, DONNA SUMMER is very an authorized biography with all three of Summer's daughters and her widower, musician Bruce Sudano, all appearing and relating their memories. Still, there are some quite dark truths and observations revealed. It not sanitized.

Remember Disco?!

[imseeg · 7/10 · 23 May 2023]

Disco was hot and happening during my childhood. Donna Summer was one of those terrific Disco voices that filled the airwaves of the seventies and hearing her sing again in 2023 I must admit her voice is still so powerful and timeless.

The good: WHAT a VOICE. Back to the seventies. And although I was never a real Disco music fan I did like Donna Summer's hit songs! Who didnt like Donna Summer back in those days?

Although not being a fan of Donna Summer or Disco music I still found this documentary to be a fascinating watch.

After the first part of this movie covers her rise to fame, the second part covers her struggle with fame.

Any bad? I personally do not care to get to know the details about the personal lives of popstars, I just wanna listen to their music, but as far as a personal portrait goes, this is a rather intimate and balanced portrait, although also a rather melancholy one.

Recommended watch for the fans of Disco and for the fans of the seventies music scene!

At an endnote: I suddenly realized that one groove out of a Donna Summer song was almost exactly copied by "Underworld" in one of their hits. Donna Summer together with Giorgio Moroder as THE origin of house/dance music of the nineties?

sang some great songs!

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 16 June 2023]

Opens with a very sensual dance, as donna summer begins singing her first, feature song. And why is the soundtracks link empty on imdb? I hope it gets populated quickly, since she had so many huge hits. A documentary narrated by her family, her daughters, her husbands. Fellow musicians. Apparently, donna was able (or tried) to keep her family and public persona very separate. Leaving boston for the role in hair... in germany. She had a band. Came to the states and was off like a rocket. Her disco songs hit at just the right time. She had a lot of firsts... the first 17 minute extended dance version. Lots of recorded interviews with donna, since she wasn't still around. They also touch briefly on the statements summer allegedly made at a concert, "god made adam and eve, not adam and steve." while summer admits to being born again, she later apologized for pain that she may have caused, to a group which many would claim had supported her so strongly in the early days. It's okay. They spend a lot of time on summer's personal relationships and time away from her kids. Her personal ups and downs. Directed by her daughter brooklyn sudano and roger williams. Currently showing on max channel in the united states.

Profound and honest about a fascinating artist

[dakjets · 9/10 · 21 May 2023]

In 2012, the world lost Donna Summer. 11 years later, her closest relatives have made this documentary about her. The documentary quickly addresses something central about Summer; the superstar was very, very private. We knew the pop and disco star, but not the woman behind the magical music. This documentary helps to change this. Here we get to know Donna's many different sides. Her doubts, insecurities and problems with the enormous attention the hit records brought with them. The documentary largely shows us the price such famous artists have to pay, as well as how important it was for Donna to try to shield herself. Family, husband, ex-husband, friends and industry people contribute with input and facts. The film is peppered with private footage of Summer with her family.

The main thing I'm left with after watching the film is that Donna Summer was so much, much more than the great "disco queen". The film is also brave and addresses the dark side of her career, such as the statements she made about gay people. How this was misinterpreted and how she tried to clear it up. And how painful this was for both her and the fanbase.

I found this documentary to be very insightful, showing Donna Summers ups and downs honestly and straightforwardly.

Finally, I would like to mention that the documentary is full of her wonderful music, and performances I have never seen before. The film can be enjoyed by both fans and others who want to get to know this unique artist.

Excellent, Kind and Gentle on Her

[info-90701 · 10/10 · 22 May 2023]

I still have original albums from the 70s by Donna Summer, so I was delighted to see her family make this film. They were gentle and didn't highlight the devastation that she must have felt from being attacked for her "Adam and Steve" comments, because she didn't make any albums between 1981 till 2008. I think a lot of people commenting don't realize that, but I can also see why her family didn't want to highlight that too much either. She must have been devastated completely, and could not bounce back.

What this documentary does very well without overstating, is show the horrible effects of molestation, especially when done by people in the clergy, and the spiritual confusion it causes many of its victims for the rest of their lives. This documentary, without beating the viewer over the head with it, or abusing their mother's memory, who they clearly loved, gently shows the effects this early experience had on their mother. It also quietly gives some indication as to why, at a time when open sexual displays or songs, initiated by women was so rare, Summers broke free of those conventions, and was able to do "Love to Love You Baby" and perform it in such a visual display. Molestation breaks the sexual propriety rules, and if it doesn't break a person, it allows them to define their own boundaries of how and when they will be sexual.

It also helps you to understand her better, through her insecurities and her strengths. In the 70s, she took a LOT of flack from the black community, as did Sammy Davis, Jr., for marrying a white person, instead of marrying a black person. It was a major community complaint saying that successful blacks did not strengthen the community, but took their wealth outside of the community and abandoned their roots. The criticism of her was relentless there for a while, when she was with her first husband.

Boston in the 70s had a skewed sense of color. Too many black men were almost exclusively interested in white women or light skinned black women. I lived there, and it was bizarre. So I can imagine what her early years were like as a teenager, and am glad she found her footing, shaky as it was from time to time. It fully informs why she was not able to "be her full self" till she was in Germany. Boston could be extremely stifling for a black women. She clearly was an original.

What shined through clearly and brightly was her love of family, even when she was young and sacrificed being with her daughter for a while, to build her career. Still, she was bound to family and loved them to the end. That is what I think her family wanted us to understand about her, and it is a side I've never seen of her before because everybody else who has told her story, was focused on the sex Goddess portion of her persona. It was telling that her husband still calls her "Mommy."

I think they did her justice, and let us see a truer, if not exhausted side of her that took years off from the highs and lows of the spotlight she stayed in for at least a decade plus, to just be. Well done.

Sorry...

[zconkerite · 5/10 · 1 July 2023]

I was hoping for more of a dynamic presentation and found it rather piecemeal instead. I cannot compare it to a professionally directed and produced product. Some of the personal film clips came across as damaged but they were going to use it anyway. I thought at some points in the production that Brooklyn was just too close to the documentary's subject, her mother to make some clearer decisions. It felt more like we were visiting her at home and she retrieved family photos that were not in order but just for the sake of sharing. We did get to see her vulnerability, so it was intimate in that way. Why was there was no mention of Paul Jabara whatsoever who wrote "Thank God It's Friday" and "Enough Is Enough". And though I haven't seen her sister, Linda Gaines since the 70's but more recently on Facebook, I don't think she was included in this documentary. Donna was diagnosed, then she was gone. Lots of voice over. The ending and her ending felt abrupt.

A Personal Potrayal That Shortchanges Her Professional Accomplishments

[EUyeshima · 5/10 · 28 May 2023]

With a subject as rich as Donna Summer, especially in her peak recording years, it's somewhat disappointing to find that this 2023 documentary worked most effectively as a daughter's valentine to her mother rather than a penetrating chronicle of her career. No surprise since her daughter Brooklyn Sudano co-directed this film with Roger Ross Williams, and the result is rich with archival footage and home movies. The daughter's perspective is valuable but not really that objective. What the film lacks at its core is a deeper understanding of the professional choices Summer made to shape and redefine her varied career from disco sex goddess to impressively versatile performer. That was the level of insight I was hoping for in this documentary.

Boring, disjointed, and confusing

[stsorrell · 4/10 · 26 May 2023]

This was hard to watch. There is no substance and no real purpose of this film. It simply glossed over so many topics about her life but never really got into much detail. It was so boring at times that I found myself playing on my phone. I feel like I know nothing more about her than I knew before I watched this. And the editing was horrible.

There are numerous voice overs from family members that you never see in person. That was very annoying. The audio of those off screen voices was so bad, it sounded like they recorded it in a bathroom on a hand held cassette recorder.

I've watched a ton of documentaries and this is certainly one of the worst I've seen. Do yourself a favor...skip this one.

A Beautiful Gift

[jmzc-04734 · 8/10 · 6 June 2023]

Disregard the negative reviews. Ms. Summers' family has given the world a lovely gift in this beautiful and intimate doco! I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know more about this icon about which so little is known. For example: I was surprised to learn that she wrote most of her own songs!

I highly recommend watching if you are a Donna Summers fan as it provides a glimpse into both her professional life and private life with her beautiful family. The home movies and archival footage are blended seamlessly with insights from friends and family members. And the present-day footage is authentic and moving.

Love to bore you baby

[aafleming-19569 · 2/10 · 22 May 2023]

Another early reviewer here said most of what I was going to say about how this film is disorganized and choppy, with poor editing and no central point or theme. But mainly I found it very, very, very boring although I was a great fan of hers. Someone born over 50 years ago, in 1970, would be 52 to 53 years old today. Yet there is no context provided for Donna Summer's career, almost nothing about the era, very little about disco music. The film just assumes that the viewer is very familiar with all this and very familiar with Donna Summer. And they could not show a single performance of one entire song? Or play one entire record all the way through? There's a lot of "home video" type film which is just a bunch of people messing around and does nothing to illustrate anything about Donna Summer. Her fall from popularity was almost as dramatic as her rise, yet as another reviewer said you'd think from this film that she went right from a major career to lung cancer and dying. What happened in between? A sadly missed opportunity; a fascinating performer turned into a boring subject and a documentary which provides little relevance for anyone not over 50.

Beautiful story about the ORIGINAL Female Pop Superstar

[jescobarttz · 10/10 · 5 June 2023]

This is such a great documentary about the incredible Donna Summer. I love seeing her with her family. She was a trailblazer and changed the music scene. Donna's voice was so powerful and beautiful. She will forever remain in our hearts.

I'm glad the directors chose to focus on Donna as a human, mother, wife and friend instead of Donna the celebrity. She was a very kind and loving artist and it comes through in this film. I wish her estate would release her recordings she did prior to her passing. I always have great memories of Donna Summer and she deserves to be recognized as the greatest female vocalist that she is.

I love to love you, Donna.

Disappointing

[garlandsmith · 2/10 · 22 May 2023]

This was somewhat disappointing. To start with, you almost never see who's speaking. You only hear their voice which is very difficult to follow but also frustrating, you want to see the person speaking. Similarly, and bizarrely, there is very little footage of Donna Summer speaking, you mainly, only, hear her voice.

To add to the confusion, it is somewhat disjointed, going back and forth in time, back and forth in relationships and music eras.

There's a lot of private home video footage which doesn't really tell a story and it almost never relates to what you hear being said by the faceless talking heads.

They're not dwelling too much on her being the Queen of Disco, or the disco era itself (I had anticipated this would be the focal point at least for half the documentary). Then nothing about the 80s or the 90s and very little about her final years.

Even the gay backlash of the 80s is treated (briefly) as something that happened to her as opposed something she unknowingly and maybe naively instigated.

I guess I expected a celebration of a woman, an era (or two) and an impressive body of work.

The Donna no one ever knew

[moviesfilmsreviewsinc · 10/10 · 15 June 2023]

Stardom practices and politics are crucial in popular culture, and will continue to grow as new celebrities enter the ranks. "Love to Love You, Donna Summer," co-directed by Brooklyn Sudano and Roger Ross Williams, uses this timeless interest as a personal retrospective. The documentary follows Donna Summer's career from Germany to the US, revealing her life behind closed doors. The opening scene features Donna singing the song, while the film cuts to an extreme-close-up of her doe eyes. The film explores Summer's indefinability, dichotomies, and suggests there's more to learn. "Love to Love You, Donna Summer" explores the highs and lows of Summer's career, as well as her struggles as a woman, mother, and new star. The film's heart lies in its narrative and structural relationships, with frequent narration from Summer's daughters and a focus on her childhood with a distant mother. The desire to understand Summer beyond her parenthood and into her personhood is the movie's foundation. Summer's Black womanhood is significant, as she navigates her adolescent years in Boston with her religious family to her eventual success as a sensual American disco star. She embodies passion and perseverance, breaking societal expectations and championing her identity as the power it was, despite being seen as a novelty. Summer's journey showcases her bold determination and passion for embracing her identity. "Love to Love You, Donna Summer" is a candid portrayal of Donna Summer, a pioneer and icon who constantly fought against herself. The documentary offers a glimpse into her music, but lacks a deeper understanding of her creations. While it provides insight into Summer's music, it may alienate those unfamiliar with her music. Fans of Summer will appreciate the film's depth and appreciation, while others may overlook the documentary's lack of breadth. Overall, "Love to Love You, Donna Summer" is a valuable documentary that showcases the impact of Donna Summer on music and her legacy. Summer's Black womanhood is evident in her life, from adolescent beginnings in Boston with her religious family to her eventual blossoming as a beacon of sensuality in the American disco scene. She embraced sex and championed her identity, despite being seen as a novelty. Her iconic songs, like "Love to Love You, Donna Summer," showcase her career benchmarks and ability to maintain relevance in changing times. Her hit "Love to Love You" emphasized her openness and leaning into sexual culture of the '70s, while "She Works Hard for the Money" pointed at her own label, which she sued for absent payments. Despite these peaks, Summer faced both upliftment and downfall, with the constant attention and influences of the industry burying her on a pedestal, creating a plaguing dichotomy.

This documentary is completely boring

[barrylonghauser · 2/10 · 25 May 2023]

Lots of close ups of Summer's face, lots of archival footage, random voice over interviews and it all is a total mess. Somehow this documentary has made her seem so boring. I recently listened to an interview she did with Terry Gross and she was so interesting - it's quite incredible that they made her out to be so uninteresting.

I think what is lacking is a sense of momentum. It's terribly slow. I really did not enjoy this and I am a big fan of hers. She really deserves better for someone as complicated as she is. It really felt all over the place for me and I definitely would not recommend.

Lacking substance

[[e-mail] · 3/10 · 22 May 2023]

What should have been a deep dive into all things Donna Summer felt more like an opportunity for remaining family members to make a buck and focus on themselves. We really learn nothing about how this remarkable musician became an international superstar. Editing and directing was a mess. There was an opportunity to dig into how she became born again and how she shamed the gay community who made her a superstar. The doc also skips decades of her life. We jump from about 1984 to 2011 when she is diagnosed with lung cancer. Don't waste your time and instead watch some of her performances on YouTube.

Try again

[mariamakesmusic · 5/10 · 29 May 2023]

Donna Summer had a voice that could make any aspiring singer sit down. Her voice had a resonance that kept you listening. I found this documentary stretched to find a story outside her career that just didn't really do anything to make her legacy shine brighter but rather more of her daughter's search to understand her mother who clearly was exceptionally reserved and not fully connected to her children. Even her love affairs seemed shallow. I found this documentary more discrediting than inspiring. A lot of scenes were flat, lots of unnecessary home video that made me want to turn it off and just stream one of her live performances to remember the bottom line - great voice.

Well meaning but misses the mark.

[phynesse72 · 4/10 · 22 May 2023]

My mother was a huge Donna Summer fan, she had all her albums and listened to them all the time. As a kid I was entranced by Donna's album covers-they were huge pictures of her and Mimi dressed in beautiful sequined gowns. Mimi and I are one year apart in age and I thought she was the luckiest girl alive to be able to be living such a glamorous life and wearing such beautiful dresses like a princess.

When I heard this documentary was coming out, I was cautiously optimistic simply for the fact that I am wary of the children of celebrities to tell the truth about their parent. Particularly the life they lived before they had children. For some reason, children are often seen as the ultimate biographical sources for their parents but I don't agree. Partly because as children we only ever know a small part of our parents story and only the part they tell us or the part we see with our own eyes. Donna Summer was approx.25 years old when her first child Mimi was born yet her participation was minimal-she spent the most time with her Mom as Donna was well over 30 years old when Brooklyn was born. How would she know, for sure, what her mom was or wasn't doing before she was alive? You can go by what your parent tells you, but parents don't always tell their kids the truth. This is mentioned in the doc that as children they were not allowed in their Mom's bedroom and their Mom was somewhat aloof about her private life. My personal view is that the children of celebrities more than anyone else, want to preserve a particular view or image of their parent. A good example of this is the Natalie Wood documentary that was done by her daughter.

The documentary seemed rushed maybe there were budgetary constraints that would explain why A LOT of details were omitted. Her participation in the production of HAIR which was quite controversial for the time-her life in Germany which was allegedly a difficult time for her due to bad relationships and possibly substance abuse. Her life post-disco and her brief early 80's come back with She works hard for the money and her popularity in the UK which eclipsed her popularity in the US post-disco. I could go on and on... Lastly, on the topic of Donna's views on the gay community. For the filmmakers to allege that she didn't mean what she said, and that Donna had gay friends and liked gay people is disingenuous. The internet keeps receipts in perpetuity, and it is quite clear what her views were. Her views were in keeping with the times! Who is to say that those views would not evolve over time?

There's Nothing to See Here

[michaelr-07217 · 3/10 · 2 July 2023]

I believe this film is yet another example of the over-proliferation of biographical documentaries in recent years. Unfortunately, there is just no meat on the bone of this one. I loved Donna Summer's music (excluding the title track of this movie), and she was a gigantic talent. However, there was absolutely nothing in her life that was so eventful to demand retelling. Additionally, the producers/director chose some of the most useless, terrible film footage of her early life. My partner (who rarely criticizes anything) remarked after an interminable sequence, "this is just stupid." And so it was. Nothing to see here, folks.

Unloved

[Tarntarow · 4/10 · 26 August 2023]

This purports to be the story of Donna Summer, but it is, sadly, just a mishmash of moments, thrown together.

The voiceovers are done by Donna Summer's husband, her children and a few others. I wish it had been an actual "story," but instead it simply flows aimlessly, with no real structure to it. I kept hoping for the documentary to congeal into an objective narrative, delving into the highs and lows of her life, but it never happened.

For those who are too young to have known Donna Summer, this might be entertaining, but for others, it will be bewildering, as, at almost no point is Donna Summer ever really contributing what was actually happening, and of course, since it was made after her death, that is reasonable. However, any filmmaker knows that a story must be told, and here, it just misses the mark, no matter how well-intentioned it is. I recognize though, that her daughter felt the need to make this. I just wish it shed light on the "real" Donna Summer.

A wandering documentary, not developed enough to be seen as any kind of coherent biography that could give a thoughtful person real insight into the life of Donna Summer.

A surprisingly boring mess.

[professormouse · 5/10 · 27 March 2024]

I can't believe some of the other reviews of this.

It is a disjointed and revisionist farce that should have been way better.

The use the clip of her denying saying anything against gay people in it.

Yet have spoken multiple times about it as 'fact' ?

"I was so impacted and hurt by the 'Adam and Steve' comment. So I wanted to explore that in this film and know why."

Like the recent Rick James doc, they imply A Lot.

"I put my hands on a woman." And, having covered 'that subject', they move on.

At a machine-gun rate too.

At one point, marriage infidelity is mentioned.

Sexual abuse is chucked in just after that.

And on it goes.

Never fully explaining anything.

Her daughter has said in the press that she 'took naps' while the other guy actually edited this picture.

It shows.

They do use music from her first band The Crow in it.

I think.

Of course, there's voices gabbing over that bit.

I guess Bruce Sudano did contact Paul Gambaccini after all.

He asked me once 'how' to contact him.

One of Mr. PG's radio docs - they spoke to the guy who remembers recording Donna - back then.

Her Estate currently thinks endless reissues of the same tracks.

With God awful 'new mixes' is the way forward.

This movie is more of the same.

"This'll do."

Extremely poor Sound mix for a documentary about a musician

[threecouplesfreedfilm · 5/10 · 7 March 2024]

As a whole the documentary was very well compiled and contained many interesting and insights into the life and work of Donna Summer.

However the Sound mix was extremely poorly mixed and produced, the dialogue interview levels were all over the place, low, inaudible at moments, then louder and clearer at other times, which was really distracting throughout.

I fully understand that interviews can vary in terms of when and how there recorded. But for an HBO production to have such bad audio issues, is unforgivable IMO. I literally had to turn up and down my TV volume to clearly hear what was being said.

Generally a informative and entertaining documentary, shame about the audio/sound mix.

Had the potential to be better.

[brooklygirl · 4 September 2023]

I watched this documentary for the purpose of seeing a glimpse of Donna Summer's off-stage private life. I would have been age 9 when Love to Love You, the song, was released worldwide. As a young person growing up in the 70s and 80s I did not follow the lives of entertainers and still do not as a woman in her mid-50s, so learning about Donna's life peaked my interest because I have an appreciation for her as a performance artist.

Giving the fact that I knew nothing about Ms. Summer's personal life, I can say I did learn some things. Unlike some others who have written reviews, I did not mind all the home footage. Her personal life off stage is why I was drawn to watch the documentary.

What I do have an issue with is the absolutely poor audio/sound mixing. There are segments where a caption will appear that states, "Voice of... (a person's name and their relationship to Donna)," but then nothing is heard. Early on in the film when this first happened, I turned the volume up to a really high level and barely heard the person speaking. This happens throughout the film. I subsequently stopped turning up the volume to hear because then the following audio would come in blasting. There are also instances where the narrator/daughter asks someone a question, but then their answer is not heard. Did no one view the film for possible issues before it was released on HBO Max?