TIFF 2022: Moonage Daydream Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

David Bowie tragically passed away at an untimely age six years ago, but his monumental discography and his influence on the music industry remains as relevant as ever. Alongside Freddie Mercury and Elton John, Bowie assisted in creating a space for Queer artists in the realm of popular music, and diversifying the industry as a whole. His theatricality and mysterious persona mixed with his singular musicianship and artistic voice made him a figure that stood out amongst his contemporaries and has helped him to achieve his status as a legend of the artform. Bowie was an extremely malleable rockstar whose greatest strengths were his unmatched creativity and open-mindedness towards the future. While many of his contemporaries clinged to a bygone era of rock & roll, Bowie continued to evolve as an artist throughout his entire career and never stopped exploring new ideas.

Brett Morgan’s unconventional rockumentary Moonage Daydream is a celebration of Bowie’s storied career and attempts to present the world through his eyes. Formatted specifically for IMAX, the film is an assault on the senses that pairs a kaleidoscope of colorful visuals with some of Bowie’s greatest hits and quotes that he has said over the years. Bowie is already an iconic figure whose story is widely known, so Morgan decided to take a more unconventional route and convey an aesthetic rather than a narrative. It’s a visual and audio experience meant to act as a celebration of his work that is more likely to appeal to the most dedicated Bowie fans.

Moonage Daydream shares more similarities with museum installations than it does with the typical documentary. It’s frantic, narratively unorganized, and completely inaccessible. When walking into a music documentary, one expects to learn something about the artist, or least gain a further appreciation for their contributions to the music industry. Moonage Daydream has practically nothing to offer those who are not as familiar with his work, or even the casual fan.

It’s certainly impressive from a technical standpoint. The footage that Morgan and the editing team compiled and the neon-tinged color grating is gorgeous. The sound design is immersive and rattles the entire theatre. That being said, its void of anything insightful regarding Bowie as an artist or an individual results in an improper celebration of his legacy. While diehard fans will be drawn into the dreamy aesthetic, it is a tough film to recommend to anyone else.

still courtesy of Elevation Pictures

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Tristan French