#SXSW: “DEMI LOVATO: DANCING WITH THE DEVIL”

By Mr. Will Wong

SXSW attendees were lucky enough to get to see all four episodes of DEMI LOVATO: DANCING WITH THE DEVIL tonight as the Opening Night Selection of the Festival this year. The four-part YouTube Docu-Series is directed by Michael D. Ratner who also directed Justin Bieber’s SEASONS Docu-Series.

Global Superstar Lovato made headlines in 2018 when she overdosed shockingly and the Series is about that moment, very piece that led to it and why Lovato got there. The Series courageously documents Lovato’s process of healing and doing the work to getting better.

Viewers will be surprised just how honest and candid Lovato gets whether it be revealing incidences of sexual trauma she experienced losing her virginity with someone else who worked on CAMP ROCK with her. And also more recently when the Drug Dealer who had been with her when she had overdosed, had taken advantage of her also. Heart attacks, strokes, partial-blindness, a Choreographer whose career was ruined after being bullied by Lovato‘s fans, we get detail and aftermath of Lovato’s overdose. The main subject and other interviewed have a degree of trust with Ratner, talking to us unfiltered, nothing off limits.

What Ratner focuses on is the work involved with the healing process. Lovato had relapsed multiple times and she looks back at her lessons learned with a genuine self-awareness and growth. She is vulnerable and there isn’t a false sense of happily ever after. Getting better takes a lot of work, self-forgiveness and surrounding oneself with the right people and that’s the take away here. We’re cheering for Lovato and leave with a sense of fulfillment that those around her believe she’s got it this time.

An additional treat is that the Docu-Series features her fans and friends Will Ferrell, Christina Aguilera and Elton John who show their support for Lovato on her journey, sharing anecdotes about their friendship with her.

The first episode of DEMI LOVATO: DANCING WITH THE DEVIL arrives March 23, 2021 on YouTube. Lovato‘s new Album Dancing with the Devil…The Art of Starting Over arrives April 2, 2021.