Massive flop based on tragic 00s pop icon finds new life on Netflix

Unexpectedly, a movie that critics hated when it came out in the cinema has soared to the top of the Netflix ratings.

Industry actress Marisa Abela played the late Amy Winehouse in the film Back to Black, which was released in February. Amy Winehouse passed away tragically in 2011.

The singer’s turbulent relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil (Jack O’Connell) is revisited in the movie, along with how it influenced her to write her ground-breaking album.

Longtime supporters of Winehouse, meanwhile, were criticizing the film before it had even been released, charging that its makers were taking advantage of the music icon’s legacy and making money off of her addiction issues.

Therefore, it will likely have come as a shock to even the cast and crew when Back to Black’s streaming numbers were high, sending it to number one within days.

Since hitting Netflix this weekend, the Sam Taylor-Johnson-directed project has sat firmly atop the rankings.

This suggests subscribers have been flocking in their millions to watch the biopic, despite its mere existence being shrouded in controversy and hit by allegations of sensationalising Winehouse’s tragic demise.

Although, not everyone who has watched this week has left a positive review, suggesting most of the numbers stem from the intrigue of folk who didn’t want to fork out for a cinema ticket and would rather watch from the comfort of their homes.

Taking to X, andrewmcb wrote: ‘The Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black is now on Netflix I beg of you do NOT waste 2 hours watching the most deplorable & sanitised, watered down interpretation of an icons life story cos you will NEVER EVER get those 2 hours back.’

Another scathing review from LizTray read: ‘Alright, I watched Back to Black. What a deeply shallow film, which somehow manages to blame a dead person for all of the things that went wrong, rather than give the living people a shred of responsibility. How convenient. Marisa Abela is terrific. The rest was trash.’

‘Just watched back to black on netflix. Sorry but what a load of garbage. Don’t feel like that captured Amy or was realistic AT ALL. Don’t waste 2 hours of your life if you haven’t watched it…….’, echoed ems280204.

Following its initial release, Back to Black grossed $50.8milion (£38.7m) from a $30million (£23m) budget.

Having been panned by reviewers, its stars were forced to defend the film’s intentions.

Skins star O’Connell, 34, hailed the movie as a ‘celebration’ of Winehouse’s life and music.

‘Put it like this: If we were trying to portray her in any form of negative light, then that might be a valid point, and I can understand one or two people preempting that,’ he explained.

Lead Abela, 27, also told Digital Spy that she ‘understood’ the scrutiny, having been hesitant herself to sign on.

‘It was like, “You know I feel like this too?” No one thought as much as me that this has to be right.

‘All I would say is that if anyone thinks, “God, this has to be good”, it was me.’

At the premiere, Taylor-Johnson was asked by Metro.co.uk for her reaction to initial social media criticism of the film, responding with: ‘Go see it, is, I think, the smartest thing for me to say to that because I think it’s very hard to judge from a photograph or stories.’

She added: ‘If you go see the film, I think you’ll understand what I wanted to do was to celebrate and uphold her.

‘And I think that people will enjoy the music.’

On Rotten Tomatoes, Back to Black ultimately received a 35% critic rating but a shocking 86% from audiences.

Critics averaged it at 4.6 out of a possible 10, as comments described it as ‘underwhelming’, ‘tedious’, ‘disappointing’, and ‘messy’.

Alas, with regard to the portrayal of Winehouse’s personal tragedy onscreen – while it does provide a stark reminder to us all at how society and the media have treated young women – still makes for slightly uncomfortable viewing.

Winehouse died at the age of just 27 at her Camden Square home in London, of alcohol poisoning. Her brother believed that bulimia was also a factor.

After her death, Back to Black briefly became the UK’s best-selling album of the 21st century.

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