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A sneak peek from the upcoming film about Amy Winehouse has just come out, and it appears that many of her fans are responding in a similar way: “No, no, no.”
The biopic, titled Back to Black, features Marisa Abela from the show Industry portraying the iconic singer. It is set to debut in the United States on May 17, following its earlier release in the United Kingdom on April 12.
Since the beginning, followers of Winehouse have been adamantly against the creation of this movie and were quick to voice their displeasure when behind-the-scenes photos started circulating.
Many stated that Abela doesn’t resemble the singer and predicted the movie will gloss over the singer’s conflict with her father.
The new clip, which shows Abela performing “Stronger Than Me” from Winehouse’s 2003 debut studio album Frank, has reinvigorated the anger.
This time, fans are honed in on Abela’s singing voice and imitation of Winehouse.
The Back to Black official TikTok has turned off comments on the clip, seemingly cowering from the negative reception. However, that hasn’t stopped people from sharing their thoughts and reposting the clip on other platforms.
“I didn’t even have to open video to tell how much I hate the way her mouth moves when she sings,” tweeted an unimpressed viewer.
Another demanded to know why Abela didn’t lip sync for the movie: “If it worked for the Temptations movie it’ll work for this!”
“Having an actress trying to mimic one of the most distinctive voices in recent music history is certainly… a choice,” wrote a third.
The clip shows Abela singing with exaggerated mouth movements and an accent that has been compared to “a 1940s NY mobster.”
Film critic Jeff Zhang called the video “nuclear-level bad” and unprecedented. “Completely radioactive. This is the type of dreck that ruins careers, and I can’t believe no one said ‘no’ at any time during the entire production,” Zhang tweeted.
Another compared the movie to the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which won Rami Malek an Academy Award for his portrayal of Queen’s Freddie Mercury. “People also made fun of Bohemian Rhapsody but still paid money to see it even with reviews confirming it was as bad as it looked,” film critic Ronaldo Trancoso Jr. warned. “Just because they were curious and loved the songs I guess. And then somehow people voted for it at awards after it became a big hit.”
Music biopics have been a hit-or-miss with audiences over the last few years with movies like Bohemian Rhapsody and Elvis quickly garnering major attention, and others like I Wanna Dance With Somebody falling to the wayside. Where will Back to Black end up? As of now, the movie has received zero fan support, despite its fast approaching release date. That can only mean the movie has a rough road ahead.
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