TIFF 2023: Lil Nas X – Long Live Montero 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.

Within the past five years, TikTok established itself as not only the new dominant social media platform, but has completely changed the way that the music industry operates. With thousands of songs readily available at one’s fingertips through streaming, radio stations are no longer the primary source for discovering new music. Tiktok has become an accurate aggregator of what music trends and artists are resonating with the youth of today. The platform has completely taken over the industry and its dominance can be traced to 2019, when Lil Nas X first burst onto the scene with his viral hip-hop/country fusion hit “Old Town Road.” Some view the hit as nothing more than a stale meme, but it’s clear that even before studio backing, Lil Nas X was a marketing genius. At only 20 years of age, Lil Nas X turned a silly novelty song into the current reigning longest running #1 hit in Billboard history. Many doubted his staying power and believed that he would remain a one hit wonder. He once again silenced those opposed to him, releasing one of the most successful albums of 2021 with Montero, and earning two more #1 hits with the title track and “Industry Baby.”

Lil Nas X has proven to be one of the defining pop-stars of his generation, and has become an extremely important icon for both Black and Queer youth. Celebrating his groundbreaking career thus far and the release of his latest album and accompanying tour, Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero offers audiences a glimpse into the life of the global superstar, and explores how he navigates his newfound fame. Co-directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada and Zac Manuel, the film falls somewhere in between a documentary and concert film, interweaving live performances with backstage interviews and footage from his everyday life. Meanwhile, Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense was remastered this year, and also screened at TIFF. The film is a masterclass in capturing the energy from a concert and translating that onto the big screen. In comparison, Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero is the antithesis of the former; an unorganized and unenthusiastic documentary that is far too surface level for fans, and will just further isolate skeptics from his music.

Lil Nas X is a fascinating artist with plenty to offer the music industry. The documentary could have been a great opportunity to learn about his creative process and celebrate the legacy that he’s paved thus far. However, the film is not well-structured as it sporadically splits its time between capturing his performances and backstage interviews. The interviews are guarded just enough that audiences don’t truly get to know the real person behind the alias Lil Nas X, but it also fails to delve deep into his mind and how he’s been able to navigate his unprecedented career path both creatively and mentally. Lil Nas X is a tried-and-true showman, so the performances captured through the concert footage are exhilarating, but the filmmaking doesn’t do it any favors. The performances are so sporadic that it interrupts the flow of the concert.

In the end, Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero delivers an extremely disappointing surface-level portrait of an artist who deserves much better.

still courtesy of TIFF

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Tristan French