Music (I) (2021) User Reviews

One of the worst films ever

[cruise01 · 2/10 · 19 July 2021]

1 out of 5 stars.

Horrible film. Plot is bad. Acting is stale. Sia direction with an autistic person behavior is very misguided. Horrible film in general.

Everyone involved should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves

[Sir_AmirSyarif · 4/10 · 21 May 2021]

Even if you try to look past how tone-deaf the film is, the plot is still mind-numbingly painful to watch. Sia's 'Music' is dressed as a telling of an autistic story but the autistic character is only a subordinate character, lacks depth, and only exists to ignite some sort of character development for the main character. It is offensive as it plays into harmful stereotypes towards people on the autism spectrum, uninteresting, and poorly put together. While the songs are well-written and catchy, their insertion into the dragging narrative only stretches it further. Everyone involved should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

Misguided

[tim-stjames · 2/10 · 13 June 2022]

Overused, hyper-stylised pop numbers aren't enough to mask the catastrophic misjudgements that Sia has exercised here. It is one of those movies where you know Sia had the best intentions in mind, but those intentions are nowhere to be found in such a baffling mess of a movie. How nobody involved in this doomed fiasco simply said No! At any - or every - stage is baffling. Fortunately, you can.

As an Autistic Person

[aerynxox · 1/10 · 15 February 2021]

This movie makes me afraid for the future of autistic representation in media.

Bad, just bad.

[ritatrip · 1/10 · 21 February 2021]

Bad acting, bad characters, offensive story, misinformation on all ends. Hudson should know better. MZ doesn't know better. Sia, at a loss for words here. Curiosity made me watch, and watching made me sorry I was curious.

Misguided

[Neon_Gold · 1/10 · 16 February 2021]

I am virtually unaware of the controversy surrounding this film so I'm not going to be harsh on it for the sake of it.

First this movie is boring and confused. It labels its self as a film about an autistic girl yet it seems to be more about her older sister. It is a film about the sisters romance and her job. The autistic character is just sort of in the background which really confused me.

The acting. It ranges from ok to an absolute disaster. I don't think this film had people with autism as consultants which they should have. When making a movie about a subject that is not something that you know of first had you should surround your self with people who do have first hand experience with the topic. This way you can create a honest, respectful movie. They should have cast autistic people, even if they are not the lead it would have been nice for a film like this to be more inclusive. I think one of the biggest issues is that they cast someone who isn't really an actor and isn't really that good.

The script was simultaneously boring yet a cluster of every idea and the kitchen sink. It had a heart under it all but it was just like jokey and not serious until the end and it was too late then.

The musical numbers are one of the biggest disasters of this films. It was wrote as a movie not a musical. Then they offered $10,000,000 to make it a musical and it is painful obvious. The music is literally just dumped on top of random scene. They must have looked at the script and been like "sod it just shove one there". Then the actual numbers were the cheapest things ever. Where did the money go? The costumes were so cheaply made and just bad. They looked like costumes from a school play. It was crazy to me.

I don't love it when people all jump on a movie just for the sake of it but this was really bad. Really really bad. The music was ok that's it.

this is harmful and an absolute disgrace

[chocolatecoatedllama · 1/10 · 21 February 2021]

As an autistic woman, all I can say is that yhis movie by no means represents us as a community. The portrayal of autism is so inaccurate and insulting and I'm genuinely scared that people will think this is realistic. This is mocking us and not only that but the restraint scene makes me sick! So many autistic children have died from being restrained like that. This is not ok and never should have been made especially not with a neurotypical actress

"How many groups can we offend in one movie??"

[erinmelaniie · 1/10 · 13 February 2021]

Truly the worst movie I have ever seen. Incredibly demeaning to autistics and literally every other group represented. Sia really said "how many people can I offend and misrepresent in one film?"

Even if we look past how tone-deaf and offensive the film is, the plot is just bad. She tried to include so many different stories and cover so many different issues that everything was just surface level. There was zero character development, the storyline was confusing, she offset incredibly serious moments with uncomfortable humor that just cheapened the entire thing. I can't imagine how this has already been nominated for two Golden Globes. It's quite honestly terrible.

Bad

[cronictaylor · 1/10 · 16 February 2021]

This movie is disgusting and ableist. Do not watch if you're sensitive to lights, sounds, and incorrect portrayal of people on the spectrum

The absolute worst movie I've ever seen

[BandSAboutMovies · 1/10 · 1 September 2021]

I get it. I am not always all that aware of the music of today because I tend to thing everything should sound like Black Sabbath or The Rolling Stones around the time of Some Girls. I may be able to tell you all manner of arcane facts about the music of my youth - don't get me started on the KLF or any associated bands - but most music today slips in one ear and out the other.

That said, I kind of liked what I heard from Sia. And I really enjoyed the fact that she remained anonymous so often, having actresses play her in videos and rarely showing her face.

So when she made an auteur project - a $16 million dollar movie written, directed and of course featuring her - I was pretty surprised. It's one thing to not know how to read music, but all of this at once?

Sia said in a BBC interview, "For me, the process was basically, I work out the movie. I'll act it out, I'll have the dialogue already in my head... I can't be bothered to learn Final Draft."

Oh no, I thought. But part of me was like, oh yes. Because if there's one thing better than a great movie, it's a spectacular explosion of a film fueled by ego and hubris.

Some of the issues become apparent when you see how all of the place the process of creation was. The proagnist Zu was going to be Shia LaBeouf, then Jonah Hill, then after seeing Kate Hudson sing, she got the part. Speaking of the casting, most of it was done over social media. And then, after forty days of shooting, it took three years to edit this film.

Sia would tell Rolling Stone, "I couldn't seem to find the right editor - someone who understood the magic I was trying to make happen."

I would argue that this editor does not exist.

Maddie Ziegler may have starred in a series of Sia's videos, but was she meant to play an autistic girl and go full blown like she does here? How about the fact that the movie shows a potentially dangerous physical restraint method called crushing? Or the fact that Leslie Odom Jr.'s character seemingly exists only to help white people get past their issues?

Also, there are flashing lights throughout this movie, so many of the autustic people who it could reach can't watch it!

I know quite a few autustic people and not a single one of them are infants, despite this movie showing me they can be, as it veers between gritty drama and Bjork video. I take that back. Bjork makes good videos.

For everyone that ever made fun of The Apple or Can't Stop the Music or Staying Alive or any number of horrible music-themed movies that I can't help but love, I will use this as the example for what a truly bad movie is. Because man, I can remember songs from Xanadu and Sextette and I promise you that not a single moment of this film except for its endless montages of screaming headphone wearing children will stick with me. This movie has made me hate Sia, hate her music, hate children, hate communities and hate stages with floral arrangements like at the end of this movie.

Honestly, if you told me this was a right wing religious film, it would have made so much more sense to me. Actually, I've watched plenty of those and they're way more entertaining than this.

Also: Sia plays herself and has this scheme where she's using drug dealers to buy painkillers to send them to needy places in the world, which seems like the same kind of dumb idea as this movie, as if someone could have perhaps not been impulsive and tried to think of a better way to do things.

Somehow, this was nominated for both a Golden Globe for Best Picture and the Razzie Award for Worst Picture, which is the kind of thing only Pia Zadora has accomplished.

Man, this article feels like clubbing seals and shooting fish in a barrel. Realizing that doesn't mean I'm going to start being nice though. That said, I wish I had seen this movie during its IMAX premiere because I thought no movie could be as loud and face destroying as watching the fecund Zack Snyder Watchmen from the front row and I feel that this is the movie that could erase that from my brain.

It's like when you get a song stuck in your head and the only way to get it out is to start humming Glenn Frey's "Smuggler's Blues." Because then, you have "Smuggler's Blues" stuck in your head. And that's a losing proposition but one you can't refuse. It's the politics of contraband. It's the smuggler's blues.

Autism Mom

[lindalopreste · 9/10 · 13 April 2021]

I went into this having heard and seen nothing but horrific reviews, I literally rented it to criticize it. I dont even know who Sia is, im not really all that current with music, especially not pop.

My son is severely autistic. You have to understand its a spectrum. Yes lots of autistic people are savants, many are varying degrees of functional.

Luckily for me, by the grace of God, I was actually a direct support professional for a residential facility for adults with intellectual disabilities before he ever even started showing behaviors, he was about 4 months old when I was hired and received tons of training to get my D. S. P. And medpass.

At nine months old he had what refer to as "the great degression". All signs of talking or sounds other than, what the neighborhood called dinosaur calls. He became absolutely obsessed with watching very specific movies. VERY SPECIFIC. Lion king Aladdin frozen frozen 2 trolls Shrek peter pan Moana. Thats it. Those are your choices. I might not know Sia but I know every single song in those movies by heart.

Hes 3 now. Still in diapers. So handsome. Like seriously. People say all the time "he doesn't even look autistic". LMAO. He's still completely non verbal. Aside from "singing".... its still not words just instead of screeching and screaming, now its more like holding a note a long time sometimes its different strange noises.

I whole heartedly believe the screaming and headbanging, he used to bang his head on the floor until about a year, all of that was solved thanks to early intervention. Any hope I have for the possibility of his functionality in the future is because I think he is truly making progress in school, if nothing else, friends.

I love my baby boy and I have and always will be his advocate.

As long as I live, and I know I will never be lonely, he will always be here.

But some day I won't.

This movie started out a portrayal of my worst nightmare.

But I have always wondered what goes on his mind, this almost seemed plausible, at least as close as we can get 🤔 Everyone's criticisms of this movie so far seem totally invalid to me, I dont even understand. There was absolutely nothing offensive about this movie. They say she was "over the top", my son would have reacted much worse, my cousin max would have given himself a concussion hitting himself. She did wonderfully, she played the role so realistic in my opinion.

Yea shes a pretty non asd (muggle) actress. Every great movie about anyone with any form of IDD has been played by actors.

One of the tell tale signs my son was autistic before 2, he wouldn't ever pretend, no imaginary food or anything.

Trying to get a non verbal autistic person to act is impossible.

You ask yourself constantly, do they even understand me? And they do but for my son, this end of the spectrum, he understands empathically not literally.

Literally the only criticisms I have is that it is important to take them to school or therapy, with occupational and sensory therapy even only in her home, I mean I know its not real and all, but its important people know there are so many ways to intervene and get help and it important to be proactive early.

Id like to add, my son likes this movie. Im so excited to add it to the list! He loves all the colors and singing and dancing, absolutely enthralled and jumps around making his singing noises too.

If you can't see that girl communicating your not watching with empathy.

I am autistic and I enjoyed the movie

[carlylestrange · 7/10 · 2 March 2021]

I didn't dislike this movie, I actually rather liked it. It's a lighthearted musical/comedy meant to make you feel good and should be treated as such.

I enjoyed the storyline surrounding Zu, an alcoholic drug dealer trying to get her life together and ending up becoming responsible for her sister with multiple needs. Maddies depiction of a profoundly autistic girl wasn't great and I agree with many that the scenes on restraint are rather misguided. Although a talented dancer, I don't see her as a brilliant actress anyway- although she was only 14 years old during filming. I also agree that maybe a little more research could be done into how autism can affect people in many different ways and that we are all so different...

However,

I myself have high functioning autism and I find it maddening that the whole world has descended on this in such a negative way. It is not the first film to use neurotypical actors (think Jonah and the Whale) and won't be the last. It is always positive to use autistic actors for roles such as this, but not always possible and not always fair. Maddies role was quite full-on. Many profoundly autistic people would find it too overwhelming and stressful. Also, this particular movie being a Musical, I highly doubt there are many who are also professional dancers. Regarding the restraint scenes: I have a weighted blanket and the feeling of being under something gives me a sense of security as it does for many like me. When I get overwhelmed I want to hide in silence and darkness. However if another PERSON did it to me, I would freak! I think it was that the film got wrong. The security comes with being hugged by someTHING and not someONE. Finally, the word "ableist" doesn't even exist and there should never be an "us and them" attitude with anything- it's so absurd! Being autistic i worry that the over-the-top reactions towards just a lighthearted musical comedy are damaging. Hollywood historically doesn't always do so well with Autism as the range of symptoms between individuals are vast. However media will end up frightened to portray any neurodiverse individuals in the future for fear of the negative attitudes from individuals who just like complaining ("woke" comes to mind) many of which also have little to no experience of autism. Also, tv of any genre is never %100 accurate or realistic, and if it was, it would become boring. Comedies are there to make us feel good. That's it! With this being her first movie, it was produced quite well and I think Sia didn't do too badly at it and a score of 3.1 is all based on the fact that the world is going mad. Take it for what it is: entertainment.

Just no...

[evandrblack · 1/10 · 25 February 2021]

This movie is so harmful to the autistic community. Right from the opening scene, with flashing lights and loud music, which csn trigger sensory overload, and Sia's direction of Maddie Ziegler to perform a caricature of an autistic person. It's all horrible. The meltdown scenes where they restrain her to the ground, to the caricature of non-verbal autistic people. It's all bad.

I'm heartbroken

[mothslayer-03243 · 1/10 · 23 February 2021]

I'm heartbroken, angry, and so, so disgusted. Sia was my hero for so long. As a neurodivergent person watching this, I felt sick to my stomach to the point I had to turn it off. Is this really how she sees me? How she sees people like me? I'm so disappointed someone I used to look up to so much turned out to be a wretch of a person. Absolutely evil.

If I could, I'd rate it 0

[underwhelmedvibe · 1/10 · 16 February 2021]

This was an absolute yikes. Sis has Maddie Ziegler trapped in a gilded cage as she forces her to act as a caricature of an autistic person. If you are autistic, the movie itself may over stimulate you, so be prepared.

I would give it zero stars if I could

[ottosanaker · 1/10 · 16 February 2021]

This movie is awful. It was blatantly offensive, and there was no effort made to have an autistic actor play the role of an autistic character. Because of this, the portrayal of Music is offensive and looks like someone mocking autistic people. There were restraint techniques shown that are dangerous and could kill autistic people, despite this there was no disclaimer like Sia claimed there would be. This is inspiration p*rn by definition, it's a story about autistic people that is made for anyone but us (I have ASD). On top of that, it's badly written. The plot is non-existent, the characters are flat and unrelatable, and the light effects (flashing and bright colors) make is near impossible for lots of autistic and neurodivergent people to watch it. Don't see this movie, it's disgusting and ableist to the core.

Offensive

[iris_depree · 1/10 · 13 February 2021]

Very offensive to those on the autism spectrum. It's painful to watch.

Disregards any Autistic input

[AutieDino · 1/10 · 14 February 2021]

This film is a mockery of Autism, when faced with criticism Sia chose to be abusive.

The lead was seemingly uncomfortable that it'd be viewed as mocking & it is

This film is dressed as a telling of an autistic story but quotes suggest story ranges from never considering an autistic actor through to considering one, having a work environment which prohibited them & rather then changing it, just cast a frequent collaborator

An apology also only seemed to appear after award nominations & things like earnings or removing scenes don't seem to have been done

Disgusting film focusing on disabilities in all the wrong ways

[nantena-1 · 1/10 · 15 February 2021]

This movie should have never been made to begin with, but the fact that it has been released to the public with its ableist bs storyline is appalling. Restraints that have killed autistic persons should not be glorified in a film setting EVER

Offensive and Just a Bad Movie in General

[sweidman-28016 · 1/10 · 18 February 2021]

"Dear Kazu, there's no money... there is however, a magical little girl, your sister... all she's got now is you."

I'm appalled by Music. I'm appalled how it got two Globe nominations, how all these celebrities were apart of the project, and just how it was even made. For those who don't know what it's about, Zu is newly sober when she receives news that she is to become the sole guardian of her half-sister named Music, a young girl on the autism spectrum. The movie explores two of Sia's favorite themes: finding your voice and creating family. The controversy around this is touchy with some so I'll get into that later. Ignoring all of that, this is just a really bad movie in general. I can understand what Sia was trying to do, but this is just a bad movie. The plot is overly predictable and poorly written. Some of the lines are laughable. Laughable is just a good way to describe Music. Randomly throughout, Sia puts music videos as a perspective from the character Music. The music videos are kind of laughable as well. The placement of them don't make much sense. Every time one would come on, I groaned. Maybe if they figured out when to put them, then it might've been fine. I could've cared less what happened to the characters. Kate Hudson who plays Kazu (yes that's her name) is a stereotypical character that doesn't care much about her decisions because she doesn't want to get sober. Of course, she learns to love herself and others because she has to take care of Music. She's really annoying and a horribly written character. Leslie Aidan Jr. plays Ebo who is there to basically teach Kazu to be strong - he's literally a boxing coach - and brings them together. We have many cameos throughout. This is a failed attempt to be something special. I would rather the the abomination that is Cats over this. If you don't want to hear my take on the touchy subjects, just leave it here. Music is an utter disaster.

As most know, Maddie Ziegler plays Music who is on the autism spectrum. Her autism doesn't allow her to function independently which is fine. The problem comes with Maddie Ziegler, someone who isn't on the autism spectrum, playing that character. Ziegler's performance is offensive. Many will argue that other people have played characters with disabilities in the past and haven't received backlash. Because we've progressed to know what's an interpretation that is right and wrong, we've helped eliminate these interpretations deemed incorrect. The interpretation here is totally offensive. If they had someone on the autism spectrum who might have been able to act in this case, maybe there could have been a better understanding of the character. That's not the solution, though. The movie is glorifying disabilities. Right there is the main issue. Sia was not the one who should've written this story or make the movie. It's a superficial view on disabilities that's trying too hard to make it seem something special, but the way it's done is just wrong. Another issue I'd like to point out is in the first music video I believe Ziegler is in blackface. Everyone knows by now that's not acceptable so I don't need to go into further detail. Once again, I cannot believe Music was made. Despite the Golden Globe nominations for comedy/musical film and comedy/musical actress for Kate Hudson, this will definitely be regarded as one of the worst movies in recent years (or all-time) and win some Razzie. I don't see how anyone can support the movie after watching. If you are defending it before watching, you need to take time to see what you're defending.

ableist.

[brook-09844 · 16 February 2021]

I cant believe sia even released this. horrible depictions of people on the spectrum. i'm disgusted. i wish i could rate this movie even lower.

I am autistic

[munchrob-57735 · 10/10 · 10 April 2021]

I absolutely love this movie the way that it captured won't be in the autistic is like I liked all the colors I liked all the ways that they were dancing and I liked all the choreography it was just an awesome movie please release us on Blu-ray so that I can buy this anyone who is saying that this offends autistic people you were not speaking for all of us 10 stars.

Don't Believe the Hype, See It for Yourself

[sundialpictures-01657 · 6/10 · 7 January 2022]

I was disappointed to find that Sia's directorial debut isn't the trainwreck everyone says it is. That's why I decided to check it out because of all the negative reviews. What exactly is everyone having a problem with? Apparently, the detractors all hate the lead performance and even invented terms like Autistic Blackface to describe it. They all treat this movie as if it were an affront to humanity because of this performance saying that it's degrading to autistic people. Well, I'm high functioning autistic and I expected to be offended but came away realizing the character Music is meant to be low functioning. She can't speak, only communicates in noises and wears headphones to filter out the noise of the world because she has sensitive hearing. Sure, this isn't my experience and it isn't the experience of a lot of autistic adults, and I think the filmmakers know this. This character is not meant to be a representation of every autistic person in the world. I get that and was okay with the movie.

Basically, what we get is a retread of the Tom Cruise/Dustin Hoffman classic Rain Man and while it isn't original, it does have some nice unique touches that make it interesting. I love the creative music video sequences that Music dreams up, her way of communicating with the world, her way of making sense of it. I also found this movie to have heart, and I totally believe that Sia did this as a labor of love and a tribute to a good friend of hers who has autism.

This isn't the worst film I've seen by a long shot and I think it just became popular to hate on this film as some misguided act of virtue signaling. The more egregious act has been all of these people getting offended by this film in my place.

highly damaging

[rebeccamevans · 1/10 · 21 February 2021]

This film is a harmful depiction of Autism, and is clear that very little research actually went into this film, with the hate group Autism Speaks clearly being an influence. This is shown in the film through Zu and Ebo having very little understanding on how to assist Music. We see on two occasions Ebo physically restrain Music to the ground as a way to 'help' Music when she is having a meltdown (they refer to this as one of her "episodes" further showing their lack of understanding). Furthermore, the way that Autism is handled is atrocious. Constantly the character's talk over music and not with her, which just make's Music seem invisible. I felt throughout the film that the acting mocked autism, and making it out that autism is a problem, this was not helped by casting a neurotypical actor as the role of Music. Moreover, The film severely lacks plot, making it a drag to watch. The film is wooden, and the characters feel 2D with little character development. To add to this the structure of the film is just bizarre. Throughout the film there are music video's that represent what is going on in the character's minds. This would have been a good idea if it had actually been executed properly, and didn't appropriate minority groups in the process. Considering this film is supposed to depict autism, it is not friendly for autistic viewers. There are constant flashing lights, and the colours (especially in the music videos) are overstimulating. Looking at the character's, there is not much to say about Music really as we don't see a lot of the film from her perspective, but instead from her older sister Zu. Zu is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic who is left to look after her younger sister Music. The problem is that she has absolutely no understanding of how to help her. We consistently see her unable to cope with Music and rely on Ebo's help, which doesn't help at all. The film ends up focussing heavily on Zu being a drug dealer and trying to pay back her own drug dealer. This completely takes away the aim of the film from the topic of autism to drug dealing which is not what this film was marketed as. Zu should not have been left to look after Music, she was clearly not in a fit state to do so, and it was unrealistic to portray that she was in the film. It felt throughout the film that we were meant to feel sorry for Zu, but in reality, it came across more as her being depicted as the victim in the situation, and not on how Music coped with the sudden change after losing her mum. Overall, This film is damaging to the autistic community, and should not be nominated for two golden globes. If I could I would give this film 0 stars.

Absolute atrocity

[socialsimulator · 1/10 · 17 February 2021]

Imagine blatantly mocking mentally impaired people and trying to pass it off as "art," that is this movie. Sia's obsession with Maddie Ziegler is very concerning, and the fact she coerced an underage girl to disrespect autistic people in an overly exaggerated and mocking way as well as participate in blackfacing is abhorrent to say the least.