Amy Winehouse took the music world by storm with her 2006 album Back to Black. Now, 13 years after her death, director Sam Taylor-Johnson is bringing that early boom of success to the big screen.
Back to Black stars Marisa Abela as the sultry singer and covers her rise to fame from her early days in Camden through the making and release of her first album. The recently released trailer has all the hallmarks of a musician biopic, from playing guitar in her bedroom and dreaming big to performing in front of huge audiences.
Winehouse was always known for her vintage aesthetic, wearing clothes and a signature beehive style that felt more suited to the 1950s than the early 2000s. The trailer seems to be leaning into the same. Besides a wired headphone sighting, there’s not much modern tech in sight, although the film does take place before iPhone world domination.
Another interesting facet is that the movie appears to only cover her rise to fame and not her later life and early death. It seems a bit sanitized to focus on only the first half of her life, but perhaps that was a condition from her estate to even make a film in the first place.
In addition to Abela as Winehouse, the film also features Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan, and Lesley Manville. Abela’s own vocals will be used throughout the film, with Nick Cave and Warren Ellis doing the score.
See the trailer below and see Back to Black in theaters on May 17.
