--- title: "Amy: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/amy/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/amy" critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 17 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Amy (2015): what the critics said Critics' score 79 from 17 reviews: 16 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics find Asif Kapadia’s documentary an intimate, deeply affecting portrait that restores Amy Winehouse’s wit, personality and musical talent after years of tabloid scrutiny. Praise centres on the home videos, performance footage and audio-only interviews, which let her voice carry much of the story without conventional talking heads. The reviews largely credit this approach with making her troubles painful to witness without treating them as spectacle. The disagreement concerns how far that sympathy allows for complexity, and whether the attention to celebrity crowds out the music. Vulture finds more attention paid to fame’s destructive effects than to the roots of Winehouse’s art, while Slant Magazine objects to the later sections’ moralising about fame and fandom. Most assessments remain positive despite such reservations; Little White Lies offers a sharper dissent, finding the film melodramatic and opportunistic, with too little insight into her interior life. ## Film Comment — Jonathan Romney Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 July 2015. The film is an intelligent, empathetic and very moving account of a formidable talent and radiantly original personality. It inventories the gawkers and vultures around Winehouse while celebrating her joie de vivre. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/amy-winehouse-documentary-asif-kapadia/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 2 July 2015. The critic praises the film as an accomplished, quietly devastating documentary that allows viewers to live Winehouse's life through its innovative audio-only interview technique and rich archival material. It singles out the portrayal of her extraordinary musical gift alongside the squandering of her talent. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-amy-winehouse-movie-review-20150703-column.html) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 2 July 2015. The critic calls Kapadia’s film brilliant and praises its refusal to assign simple blame for Winehouse’s death. It highlights the wealth of home-movie footage, archive material and interviews that trace her life from precocious teenager to tragic decline. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/amy-film-review-beautiful-film-reveals-ugly-truth-behind-singer-s-downward-spiral-10360282.html) ## The AV Club — Kyle Ryan Rating B+. 2 July 2015. The film offers a smart, nuanced look at Winehouse’s brief life, remaining grounded in her humanity through archival footage and voiceover interviews rather than salacious details. It praises Kapadia for treating the subject with respect and heart instead of turning it into an exploitative true-crime story. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/amy-takes-a-smart-nuanced-look-at-amy-winehouse-s-brie-1798184245) ## Empire — Phil de Semlyen Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 2 November 2015. Kapadia’s documentary is described as vibrant and haunting, peeling back tabloid preconceptions with forensic home-video footage and research to reveal a more complex character. It commends the film’s light touch that lets viewers draw their own conclusions about the tragedy. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/amy-review/) ## Time Out — Dave Calhoun Rating 4/5. 30 June 2015. The review calls it a shattering and sensitive documentary that gives equal weight to Winehouse's talent and tragedy, refusing easy answers and capturing her personality and music powerfully. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/amy) ## Variety — Guy Lodge Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 16 May 2015. Festival review. The critic describes the film as factually exhaustive and emotionally exhausting, noting its depth of feeling and archival breadth in chronicling Winehouse's rise and fall. It singles out the intimate access to private materials and the way it humanizes the singer without sensationalism. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/amy-review-cannes-amy-winehouse-documentary-1201493207/) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 3 July 2015. The review finds the film most revealing about the teenage Winehouse and values its focus on her wit, sass and musical talent. It notes the absence of narration and the damning portrayal of those around her while acknowledging one reservation about a contributor’s portrayal. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/amy-film-review-portrait-of-a-tragic-heroine-full-of-wit-and-wisdom-10363497.html) ## Slant Magazine — Chris Cabin Rating ★★★. 27 June 2015. The film succeeds in conveying what made Winehouse engaging through archive material and interviews but becomes distastefully moralistic in its later sections, turning into a high-handed indictment of fame and fandom rather than a deeper exploration. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/amy/) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 2 July 2015. The documentary is alternately thrilling and devastating, focusing more on the lethal effects of celebrity and the circumstances surrounding Winehouse’s death than on the roots of her art, while featuring striking footage of her performing and recording. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2015/06/movie-review-amy-winehouse-documentary.html) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 16 May 2015. Festival review. The critic highlights the archive-footage approach that rescues Winehouse from tabloid caricature, revealing her talent, troubles and the conflicted roles of family and others, while noting it is uneasy viewing. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/amy-review/5087453.article) ## Little White Lies — Sophie Monks Kaufman Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 16 May 2015. Festival review. The critic finds the documentary melodramatic and opportunistic, failing to delve into Amy's interior life, though it effectively highlights her bulimia as a key damaging compulsion. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/festivals/amy-first-look-review) ## Sight and Sound — Jane Giles 1 July 2015. The critic praises the film's use of archive footage to present Amy Winehouse's story through her own voice and images, highlighting her talent and the tragic circumstances of her life without wallowing in or glamorizing the tragedy, calling it essential viewing. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-amy) ## The Guardian 5 July 2015. Asif Kapadia’s documentary is a sober, unsensational and overwhelmingly sad study of Amy Winehouse’s short life that eschews talking heads in favour of archive footage and her own lyrics. The critic highlights the heartbreaking portrayal of her talent, addictions and the toxic pressures of fame, while questioning the complicity of those around her. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/05/amy-winehouse-documentary-asif-kapadia-review) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Stephen Dalton 16 May 2015. Festival review. The critic describes the film as a tender, intimate, nuanced portrait of Amy Winehouse that uses archive footage and audio interviews to highlight her talent, charisma, and tragic self-destruction. It notes some glossing over of her behavior but overall calls it emotionally stirring and technically polished. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/amy-film-review-795578/) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Rating Critic's Pick. 2 July 2015. The critic calls the film a shattering biographical portrait that traces Winehouse's rise and tragic fall. It singles out the intimate use of archival footage and the haunting depiction of public and media intrusion into her life. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/03/movies/review-amy-an-intimate-diary-of-amy-winehouses-rise-and-destruction.html) ## Collider — Talia Soghomonian Rating A+. 24 May 2015. Festival review. The critic calls the film a moving biography and tribute to Winehouse as an artist that avoids pathos while revealing her sensitive, insecure personality and exceptional gift for jazz interpretation. It singles out the insightful use of archival footage showing her talent and the damaging influence of those around her. [Read the review](https://collider.com/amy-movie-review-cannes-2015/) ## HeyUGuys — Stefan Pape Rating 5/5. 29 June 2015. The critic praises Kapadia's masterful storytelling that creates an emotional connection to Amy Winehouse, highlighting her talent and the tragic inevitability of her decline through intimate footage and editing. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/amy-review/) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating B+. 30 June 2015. Festival review. It's a gripping and brilliant documentary that effectively portrays Winehouse's life and decline, but questions the ethical implications of exploiting her story further. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/review-asif-kapadias-powerful-amy-winehouse-documentary-amy-20150630/) ## Consequence Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 9 July 2015. The critic describes the film as a disturbing yet empathetic reconstruction of Winehouse's rise and fall that highlights the vicious scrutiny of modern fame and the lack of intervention from those closest to her. It singles out the film's use of her own words and footage to demand a more compassionate viewing of her story. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2015/07/film-review-amy/) ## Eye for Film — Robert Munro Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 16 June 2015. Festival review. The review describes it as an intensely sad and affecting look at a talented young woman ill-equipped for fame, praising the use of archive footage and Amy speaking for herself through performances. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/amy-2015-film-review-by-robert-munro) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond 2 July 2015. The critic calls the film an unforgettable and compelling portrait assembled masterfully from remarkable footage and interviews without narration. He highlights the dazzling highs, darkest moments, and soaring musical talent on display. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2015/07/amy-review-amy-winehouse-documentary-harrowing-unforgettable-1201467238/) ## Paste — Bonnie Stiernberg Rating 9.0. 9 July 2015. The review hails the documentary as a celebration of Winehouse's immense talent and humanity that goes beyond mere tragedy, using home videos and performances to showcase her voice, wit, and songwriting. It singles out the unflinching portrayal of the enabling forces around her for criticism. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/amy) ## The Wrap 2 July 2015. The critic describes the documentary as both biography and autopsy, an exhaustive chronicle that indicts those who took advantage of Winehouse while pitting celebrity against authenticity. It singles out the contrast between her musical maturity and emotional naiveté for praise amid some blind spots in the victim framing. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/amy-review-amy-winehouse-mitch-winehouse-blake-fielder-civil/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/amy.md