Moonage Daydream
An electrifying audiovisual immersion into David Bowie’s restless creativity, shifting identities, and enduring musical mythology.
Overview
A mesmerizing exploration of a musical icon's life and legacy, blending art and reality.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- electrifying
- bombastic
- dreamy
- music discovery
- concert night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a groundbreaking, bombastic, and emotionally resonant audiovisual portrait whose unconventional editing and sound design capture Bowie’s mercurial artistry.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Brett Morgen combines archival performance footage, interviews, animation, sound design, and voice material into a nonlinear-feeling portrait rather than a fact-by-fact career timeline.
The film explores Bowie’s shifting identities, performance styles, and philosophies as inseparable from his artistic practice.
Remixed music, rapid audiovisual transitions, concert footage, and bold image associations make the film itself feel like a rock performance.
The film privileges Bowie’s voice, imagery, ideas, and atmosphere while deliberately omitting some conventional biographical touchstones.
Films like Moonage Daydream, and why
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years
Experimental music documentary built as an immersive audiovisual collage around a mercurial rock artist.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
Bold, highly stylized portrait of a transformative musical performer emphasizing performance, persona, and archival spectacle.
Amazing Grace
Energetic music documentary that uses concert imagery, archival material, and subjective editing to evoke an artist’s cultural impact.
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
Intimate yet formally distinctive documentary portrait of a legendary musician assembled around personal archive and creative mythology.
Movie Details
- Director
- Brett Morgen
- Release Date
- 2022-09-15
- Runtime
- 135 min
- Rating
- 7.4 / 10 (285)
Cast
- David Bowie
- Lou Reed
- Tina Turner
- Russell Harty
- Dick Cavett
- Mick Ronson
- Trevor Bolder
- Mick Woodmansey
- Ken Fordham
- Brian Wilshaw
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Moonage Daydream about?
- An electrifying audiovisual immersion into David Bowie’s restless creativity, shifting identities, and enduring musical mythology.
- What is Moonage Daydream like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Moonage Daydream as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Moonage Daydream violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Moonage Daydream.
- What did critics think of Moonage Daydream?
- Critics broadly praised the film as a groundbreaking, bombastic, and emotionally resonant audiovisual portrait whose unconventional editing and sound design capture Bowie’s mercurial artistry.
- Which films are like Moonage Daydream?
- Films with a similar feel include The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Amazing Grace, and Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck.
- How long is Moonage Daydream?
- Moonage Daydream runs 135 minutes.
- Where can I watch Moonage Daydream?
- In United States, Moonage Daydream streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.
