I managed to catch an early press screening of the doc last week and it was tremendously well done, although of course quite sad. The intense build-up to the end of her life really got to me and brought back the deep sadness I experienced when she had passed. It was truthful without being trashy. It did not go into a ton of detail about her various albums, music and awards. It focused more on the human side of Whitney and what she went through. It also covered the social impact of some major career moments, such as her singing the Star Spangled Banner and visiting South Africa during the Bodyguard Tour. The way they were able to piece together different interviews, audio and video clips really made you feel the impact of these historical events in the context of the era.

For those who are hoping for a mostly positive and upbeat documentary, I would kindly suggest to steer-clear of this. You will not enjoy it. It does however provide an honest account of her life and her family, from those who loved and knew her best. Unfortunately she did not live an overwhelmingly positive life. There was a lot of self-destructive behaviour, which is explained by her family history and the abuse. It connected the pieces of the puzzle for me, such as the real reason of why Robyn left in the end. There have been various stories over the years of how this went down, but this documentary finally puts to rest many of those stories. Whitney was always a mysterious woman.

Being a big fan of Whitney, I would have also loved a glowingly positive documentary, but at the same time, I think we needed the truth from the estate in order to finally put all of the controversy and rumours to rest. There are so many different versions of stories out there. This doc will hopefully allow her to finally rest in peace. You will feel sad after watching it, but I also walked away with a deeper love for her. She tried to be so strong for so long and still managed to give us more than we could have ever asked for.