It’s been nearly 30 years since the untimely passing of singer songwriter Jeff Buckley. An artist who is lauded as being one of the most talented of his time and also continues to be a poster child for the “what if” possibility of a musical legacy that never was.

Director Amy Berg (Janis Little Girl Blue, Deliver Us From Evil) has crafted a documentary that is both a love letter to Jeff Buckley’s short life, but also gives fascinating insight into the man from the women who loved him the most and his closest friends and former bandmates. Berg uses a heady mixture of archival footage, interviews, cassette recordings of voicemails, vox pops and animations to weave the narrative of Buckley’s life.

His mother, Mary Guibert (also executive producer) talks about how from birth, Jeff was gifted with an angelic voice, an immediate musical talent and a sensitive disposition. His father, singer songwriter Tim Buckley, left before he was born and was barely in his life. Jeff had resented the fact that he was repeatedly compared to his father. Tim died in 1975 at the age of 28, something that almost haunted Jeff through his life. And sadly the fact that Jeff passed so young at age 30 didn’t help those comparisons after his death.

Berg’s film though prefers to not linger on the sadness and brings us back to the love, adoration and admiration that those closest to him had. Two of Jeff Buckley’s key muses in his life were Rebecca Moore and Joan Wasser who both share some details of their relationships with Buckley; and with so many women involved in this project it definitely gives the film a female gaze and warmth. Often complimenting his sensitivity and desire to advocate for the women in his life and their influence on his music.

When he was first signed to Columbia, Buckley set himself a challenge of writing 100 songs in 5 weeks; that’s 20 songs a week. He was fixated on being seen as a proper songwriter with his own catalogue of songs and like many artists was his own worst critic. He was praised by musical peers like Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Thom Yorke of Radiohead and he was fortunate enough to perform for and with his idols like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Robert Plant. David Bowie is even quoted as saying ‘Grace’ is the best album ever made.

The paradox of his music was his raw feral rock energy influenced by Led Zeppelin as well as his ethereal angelic vocals inspired by Nina Simone or Edith Piaf. Songs like “Grace” or “Eternal Life” were full of raw anger whilst his cover of the Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah” is revered as surpassing the original. A mix of a rock ‘n’ roller and a hipster chanteuse, he didn’t align with any of the current mainstream genres. Buckley was plagued with the dichotomy of wanting to be creative and put his feelings and emotions to music, but never wanted the trappings of fame or success that came with it.

Buckley’s career may have been short but it was wildly varied, performing in the tiny coffee house Sin-e in the East Village of New York where he was discovered by music executives through to stadiums and festivals in Europe. Initially when his first (and only) studio album ‘Grace’ was released, it was huge internationally but underperformed in the US charts. His record label insisted on him touring for nearly 3 years straight and then were demanding a follow up record to recoup.

As the pressure mounted, Buckley started falling deeper into a depressive state, worried that he could not live up to that first record. He retreated to a shack in Memphis to focus on writing his second record, tentatively titled ‘My Sweetheart The Drunk’. Those closest to Buckley recount him calling each of them to say how much he loved them and was sorry for any misgivings of the past. As the film nears its end it alludes to how Buckley may have even had bipolar or manic depression. His death, an accidental drowning in the Wolf River Harbour in Memphis Tennessee happened at 30 years of age. And whilst incorrectly mislabelled as a drug overdose by some media outlets or even a suicide, all those closest to him believe that was not the case and it was merely an accident.

For those not familiar with Jeff Buckley or his work, this is a comprehensive summation of Buckley’s all too short life and why he was considered such a luminary despite only ever releasing one official studio album. For those who loved him most, the grief and sadness Berg depicts is palpable. They lost a son, a lover, a friend, a bandmate. For fans of Buckley it reminds us of a talent that we were robbed of too soon. For all of us, his legacy is never over as new generations get an opportunity to discover his work, his talent lives on.

“It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” is releasing through Piece of Magic Entertainment and screening in select Australian cinemas from 30 April 2026.

It’s not a great movie, and no one cares.

Michael Jackson fans turned out in force around the world this weekend. They drove receipts for “Michael,” directed Antoine Fuqua, to around $217.4 million counting every country. In the US, $97 million.

So Lions Gate says.

The result is the biggest opening ever for a musical biopic.

Damn the critics, which gave it a 40% on Rotten Tomatoes, including yours truly.

The movie is fact free, riddled with narrative issues. But no one blinked an eye. They just wanted to see Michael Jackson sing and dance, moonwalk, twirl around, and perform the most popular music since the Beatles.

Indeed, Jackson’s three main albums — “Thriller,” “Bad,” and “Off the Wall” — are in the Amazon top 10.

The huge amount of money is partially because the film opened in 1,700 IMAX theaters, almost half its venues in the US. The prices are high — up to $30 in some locations. That’s twice the price of a regular movie ticket in the most expensive theater.

Fuqua’s movie and its success says nothing about truthfulness, which is no longer an issue in the Trump-verse. It’s about entertainment. It’s 17 years since Michael Jackson died, but his music has never gone away despite lingering accusations of child molestation. The audience was thirsty to see the King of Pop again, and that’s what Fuqua gave them. No third act? No problem.

Kudos to the producers also for casting Michael’s real life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, to play his uncle. That was value added for fans, who couldn’t get enough of the story. And to be the son of the man who sang “Word to the Badd,” and wrote a book about resenting his brother — well, that’s PR lightning in a bottle.

The last time I heard Anne Hathaway sing was in 2012 when I saw her give the performance of a lifetime in “Les Misérables” as Fantine. I was eight years old.

Therefore, when I saw that Hathaway would be starring in a new musical drama — an A24 film, at that — with original music written by Jack Antonoff, Charli XCX and FKA Twigs, my 21-year-old self was intrigued.

In retrospect, I should have just re-watched “Les Mis.”

The film opens with mega-famous pop star Mother Mary, played by Hathaway, as she enters the stage of a packed stadium and performs to her adoring fans. Her wardrobe, sound, energy and overall aesthetic are reminiscent of Lady Gaga, and were, to me, obviously inspired by the well-known singer.

Viewers are then introduced to Sam Anselm — played by Michaela Coel — a clearly successful and respected British designer in her studio that also doubles as her home. Sam enters her bedroom from her studio and lies down. During the scene, viewers can hear Sam’s inner dialogue.

“I haven’t seen her in over 10 years, but I could tell she was coming from a thousand miles away,” Sam’s voice says as she falls in a fetal position on her bed.

Mother Mary, who is not referred to in any other way for the entirety of the film, then shows up to Sam’s studio as rain pours down in London, looking disgruntled, pale and generally unhappy — opposite of the Mother Mary we saw on stage a few scenes ago.

Mother Mary storms through Sam’s studio up to her bedroom as many of Sam’s assistants try to stop her, while also looking in shock as they realize they are in the presence of the iconic pop star.

After breaking through the assistants and storming into Sam’s room, the two have a conversation as Sam tries to get to the bottom of why Mother Mary is really there. In this scene, it is implied that Sam was once Mother Mary’s designer and the two shared a close bond, but that Mother Mary did something to destroy their relationship.

With tensions high in the room, Mother Mary reveals she needs a dress for a performance that is happening in three days. This isn’t just any performance, though — this is her first performance since “the incident.”

“The incident” is different from whatever occurred between Sam and Mother Mary. “The incident” happened after Sam and Mother Mary’s relationship ended, but Sam knows all about it, as it was all over social media. Whatever happened traumatized Mother Mary, and she has not performed since — until now.

After Mother Mary begs and pleads with Sam to make her a dress that “feels like her,” Sam begrudgingly agrees. Then the two get to work.

As Sam takes Mother Mary’s measurements, holds up different fabrics to the singer and tries to get a feel for what Mother Mary is looking for in a comeback dress, the layers start to peel back on what happened between the two of them, and what happened to Mother Mary in “the incident.” The film gives most of the context through flashbacks that appear in the design warehouse they are working in, in a very A24 fashion.

Through the two working together on the dress and also hashing out their issues from years past, it is finally revealed to viewers what happened between Sam and Mother Mary and also what happened to Mother Mary more recently in “the incident.”

The reasoning behind their relationship ending was anticlimactic, while the story of “the incident” was just ridiculous. When this information is revealed to viewers around three-quarters of the way through the film, it turns into a horror-style drama. As a fan of horror, this plot was just too silly to get on board with.

There was a lot of symbolism that felt on-the-nose, which was nice when you’re trying to catch on to deeper meanings, but the whole film felt very “fake deep” in that way. Similarly, Sam and Mother Mary pretty much only speak to each other in metaphors, which they even directly address at one point, but the dialog translates pretty cringe-worthy.

One thing to appreciate about the film was the tension between the two main characters. The feeling of betrayal from Sam left you wondering what happened between them — only to be unimpressed with the answer — and if their relationship went not only beyond designer and model, but also beyond friendship. It would have been interesting if the film explored their potentially romantic relationship in more depth.

The film also is very slow, creating boredom for the first part of the movie, and was still boring even when the plot picked up, because everything occurring was so confusing and unremarkable.

The film ends with an important breakthrough for Sam and Mother Mary, which honestly left me more perplexed than anything else. I wanted to be mind-blown by all of it, but it just came across as various creative swings and misses. The acting was so dramatic and exaggerated, which was impressive and enjoyable, but met with the lackluster plot, it made the film seem kind of full of itself.

On the note of acting, the acting was not an issue with the movie. Hathaway and Coel give great performances, and other notable actors including Hunter Schaefer and FKA Twigs give enjoyable performances as well. Paired with a better plot and better execution, this small cast would be unstoppable.

The original songs written for Mother Mary were also not half-bad, and fans of Antonoff, FKA Twigs and Charli XCX will likely enjoy the musical moments.

As someone who not only truly wanted to enjoy “Mother Mary,” but also someone who tends to love movies that leave me baffled, this one missed the mark.

Rating: 2/5