The pervasive feeling in Irene Taylor’s new film I Am: Céline Dion is sorrow, leavened with defiance. The film is ostensibly about a massively successful pop star who is dealing with a neurological disorder, but it’s also about a woman who has built her identity around her work and celebrity and is now wrestling with a disease that is threatening her sense of self.
When pop diva Céline Dion announced in 2022 her stiff-person syndrome diagnosis, she was forced to put her career on an open-ended hiatus, unsure if she could ever sing again. I Am: Céline Dion isn’t just a look at a celebrity struggling with health issues; themes emerge about the entertainment industry, namely, the single-minded ambition required to succeed. Dion is a warm and sympathetic subject. Yet, it’s excruciating to watch her suffer, both physically and emotionally, as her voice is imperiled by her incurable, progressing illness. The question haunts Dion: is it worth it to keep trying to perform?
There are several contradictions in I Am: Céline Dion: it’s a profoundly sad film, especially when Dion faces the camera, her emotions raw and unfiltered. She is in pain throughout much of the filming, and we also see the anguish as she fears she’s losing her beloved instrument. But Dion is also a gregarious and witty subject with a hilariously goofy sense of humor that doesn’t leave her despite the heaviness she faces. Because Dion’s working like a star athlete to regain her strength, the story is intimate as she’s filmed in her home with her friends, children, and healthcare workers. But it’s Céline Dion, so her home is a palatial mansion in Las Vegas with all the celebrity trappings one would imagine. Taylor maintains a solemnity throughout, but Dion never shrugs off her sense of camp.
Like many music documentarians, Taylor uses archival footage to support her story, and the contrast can feel quite cruel. The present-day Céline Dion is surprisingly strong and determined but vulnerable, her voice erratic and unreliable. Contradict that with past clips of Dion at her prime, leather-lunged and hitting skyscraper-high notes with astonishing precision and skill. Present-day Dion struggles to move, often shifting gingerly and stepping carefully; in older concert footage, we see Dion dash across the stage or dance with abandon. Taylor periodically reminds the viewers of what’s at stake with clips of a healthy Dion as she belts out her memorable tunes at recording studios and then contrasts that with her struggling to warble a lyric.
Though Céline Dion went public with her diagnosis in 2022, the documentary reveals that the singer struggled with her health for almost two decades. Clips of concerts during these years show the entertainer sometimes struggling to hit those money notes. Of course, one wouldn’t necessarily catch any of these minor slips at the time. These clips – some showing Dion unable to continue, frustration etched on her face – operate in building up the journey that leads to where she is now.
A singer like Céline Dion – one who sings stratospheric power ballads – relies on showboating and belting, so some wear and tear is expected, especially as she ages. So, it’s easy to understand why Dion and her people successfully covered for her as she was trying to figure out what was happening. As the performance cancellations piled up, along with deflecting her fans’ queries about canceled concerts, she had enough. She didn’t want to conceal her illness anymore.
Dion is filmed mostly in her home as she continues to struggle with her illness, though there are moments when she’s granted some reprieve and emerges from her luxurious sanctuary. Along with meeting with managers, staff members, and friends, there are scenes in I Am: Céline Dion where she’s also being examined by doctors and worked on by physical trainers, giving audiences a glimpse into what her life looks like at the moment, away from her music career. Though Dion does not shy away from discussing some of the physical torment of the disease, she maintains that clever, slightly daffy, but deceptively sharp wit that makes her so engaging to watch.
Taylor tells a compelling and – at times – distressing story, being quite unflinching at times, which leads to some distressing scenes, most notably when it appears that Dion is having a seizure with her sports trainer. There aren’t too many moments like this in I Am: Céline Dion – Taylor is careful not to exploit her subject – but it’s hard to watch Dion wail in pain as her carers administer treatment. Until this moment – and near the end of the film – we see the struggle, but it’s largely confined to how stiff person syndrome affects her work. Watching the scene brings a sharp focus to the illness and its painful symptoms.
When Terrill Lobo, one of the carers, thoughtfully suggests removing the cameras, a slowly recovering Dion weakly refuses. Taylor then does something quite interesting: as Dion starts to recover from the episode, she admits she’s embarrassed when she has these moments because she’s not in control. As cellist Redi Hasa‘s score drones somberly, Taylor interjects grainy concert footage of a younger, healthier Céline Dion in full concert regalia, making her way onto stages. The juxtaposition is brutal: the young, overly made-up Dion is remarkably different from the older, casually dressed, and coiffed Dion, who is thin, drawn, and pale as she recovers from her seizure.
Taylor is smart to include this painful scene because it is revealed that Dion’s seizure was possibly triggered by overstimulation, which took place after a particularly positive experience in the recording studio. Appalled, Dion wonders how she will ever be able to perform if excitement can cause seizures. Her faithful carer, Lobo, reminds her that she’s nowhere near the end of her journey, which she duly accepts.
As I Am Céline Dion closes, Dion and Lobo perform a routine they’ve developed accompanied by a song he chooses for her. This time, it’s soul singer Wyn Starks‘ inspirational ballad, “Who I Am“, which Dion ably sings to, channeling the kind of magic that has made her a superstar. Despite looking tired and wearing a shapeless oatmeal-colored sweater, she emerges as a triumphant diva.
In interviews to promote the film, Dion has vowed to return to make music again. Though her family and friends are present in the film, Taylor’s shaping of her story makes work the central focus of Dion’s life. References to Dion’s impoverished childhood with her 13 siblings give insight into the ambition and drive that propelled her to show business’s dizzying heights. Though it’s clear that the singer enjoys a warm relationship with her children, Taylor doesn’t dwell on the domestic side of Dion’s life.
I Am: Céline Dion is the latest in what has become a genre of films in the streaming era: the intimate celebrity documentary. These films often operate to redeem their subjects or give some important historical or cultural context to their times. Films like Ursula Macfarlane’s Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me (2023), Ryan White’s Pamela: A Love Story (2023), Leslie Libman’s Britney Ever After (2017), Janet Jackson (2022), and Laurent Bouzereau’s Faye (2024) have tried to complicate media-driven clichés about their subject’s public personae.
Taylor and Dion, however, have a different thesis for I Am: Céline Dion; the two women tell a story of how lofty celebrity, riches, and fame are merely accouterments to what matters: passion in one’s art. In one especially trying sequence, we see Dion’s repeated attempts at nailing the recording of “Love Again“, the theme tune for Jim Strouse’s 2023 film of the same title. The process is hellish on the singer because she has exacting standards, and she’s falling short. Take after take shows Dion flubbing lines, missing cues, and dropping notes, all because of her condition. And then we see triumph as she manages to rally, finally giving a performance that recalls her glory days. It’s gratifying to see and hear.
What makes I Am: Céline Dion a compelling film is its smart, funny, and tough subject. Films about medical trauma—especially those that aim to inspire—can tip into lachrymose (a charge that has been leveled against Dion’s music). Conversely, films about health crises can also exploit the subjects. Taylor stays clear of both pitfalls by focusing on Dion, who drives the story with steely strength and frank vulnerability.