Sam Taylor Johnson's upcoming Amy Winehouse biopic, Back to Black, continues to face widespread backlash from fans of the deceased English star. The film is set to release in the United Kingdom in April, and the United States in May. Distributed by Focus Pictures, the film stars Marisa Abela as Winehouse, Jack O' Connell as husband Blake Fielder-Civil, Eddie Marsan as father Mitch and Juliet Cowan as Janice Winehouse.
"This looks so f---ing bad," wrote one Reddit user in the r/popheads subreddit. The forum is a hotspot for fans of pop music. This post dates back three months ago, when the first trailer for Back to Black was released.
Another lamented about the structure and genre of the film, saying that they "feel like docu-format is best for Amy's story. It's just so sad and tragic, I don't understand making a narrative film like this for her." Back to Black is set to follow the musician all the way from her early days of performing to her Grammy wins.
The Oscar-winning 2015 documentary Amy previously detailed Winehouse's turbulent life. This left some fans wondering if there would ever be a Winehouse biopic. The film included archival footage of the "Rehab" singer and testimonials from friends and family. Winehouse publicly struggled with addiction, mental illness and a toxic relationship with Fielder-Civil. Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning in 2011. She was 27 years old.
Responding to a video clip from Back to Black, one X user wrote "this is actually insane." The 90-second video features Abela, who previously starred in Industry, singing Winehouse's "Intro/Stronger than Me." The clip flips back and forth between Abela's Winehouse in the recording studio and on stage.
One user quoted the post, writing "they should pay every amy winehouse fan that can get through this clip without throwing up." Nearly 1,000 users liked the comment, with multiple replies echoing the original post.
On a TikTok video, the same clip of Abela singing as posted on X, a commenter wrote "This ain't Amy Winehouse. This is Amy Warehouse."
Abela's voice, though not unlike Winehouse's, lacks the singer's chutzpah -- something is missing. Other fans have commented that she does not look like Winehouse, but appearances aren't what's driving most fans away.
In gentler words, another user posted a video to X of the real Winehouse singing "Back to Black," captioning, "it really is remarkable how little of Amy Winehouse's talent, charm, or personality was present in this clip." They continued, writing that the movie will be a "disaster."
Less than one month away from release, the distaste for Taylor Johnson's film appears to only grow stronger by the day. Only time will tell if Back to Black serves as a tasteful homage to the Winehouse, or a disappointing shell of a biopic.
