Beyond the Lights

Beyond the Lights
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gina Prince-Bythewood
Written by	Gina Prince-Bythewood
Produced by	Stephanie Allain Reggie Rock Bythewood Ryan Kavanaugh Amar'e Stoudemire Sharon Tomlinson
Starring	Gugu Mbatha-Raw Nate Parker Minnie Driver Colson Baker Danny Glover
Cinematography	Tami Reiker
Edited by	Terilyn A. Shropshire
Music by	Mark Isham
Production companies	Homegrown Pictures Undisputed Cinema
Distributed by	Relativity Media
Release dates	September 6, 2014 (2014-09-06) (TIFF) November 14, 2014 (2014-11-14) (United States)
Running time	116 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$7 million[2]
Box office	$14.6 million[2]

Beyond the Lights is a 2014 American romantic drama film written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. The film stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nate Parker, Minnie Driver, Machine Gun Kelly, and Danny Glover. The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2014, and was released theatrically in the United States on November 14, 2014.^[3] In 2015, the song "Grateful" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Plot

In 1998 in London, aspiring singer Noni Jean is taken by her mother Macy to a salon to get her hair done before her performance at a talent contest. Noni is happy to win second place for her performance of Nina Simone's "Blackbird", but her mother refuses to accept anything but first place and forces Noni to smash her trophy on the ground.

In the present, an adult Noni is a hot new artist who has just won a Billboard Music Award for her collaboration with her boyfriend Kid Culprit and is primed for superstardom. However, the pressures of success cause her to nearly end her life by falling off a hotel balcony. She is saved by a young police officer, Kaz Nicol. Noni's team, including her mother, tells the media in a press conference that she fell by accident. Kaz, who has political ambitions, is not happy to be forced to lie to the media, and is initially cold to Noni. However, he later apologizes to her. Gradually, they connect and begin to fall in love, despite her mother's disapproval. Noni tells Kaz about the songs she has secretly written, and he is supportive of her creative ambitions. Noni decides to end the romantic relationship with Kid Culprit that her team has encouraged.

In spite of her team's attempt to cover it up, rumors persist that Noni attempted suicide, and her label tells Macy (who is also Noni's manager) that her record contract is conditional on a successful upcoming performance. However, during the performance, Kid Culprit sexually assaults and humiliates her, claiming that Noni attempted suicide because he'd broken up with her. He tries to strip Noni's clothes off on stage when Kaz rushes in to rescue her and punches Kid Culprit in her defense. Following this, Noni loses her record contract and is at a low point emotionally, so Kaz takes her on a trip to Mexico away from the spotlight where they enjoy each other's company. Noni gets rid of her old hairstyle in favor of her natural hair, and a trip to a local karaoke bar leads to Noni giving an emotional performance of "Blackbird." The performance is uploaded to the internet and goes viral, causing Noni's mother and the paparazzi to find her. Macy tells Noni that the viral success of her performance has caused her record label to reconsider, and Noni agrees to return home. Kaz tells Noni he is not convinced that anything will be different than it was before, and their relationship is put on pause.

Noni wants to add a song she has written to her upcoming album, but Macy refuses. The two fight about their relationship and Noni tells her mother that even after her suicide attempt, Macy continued to focus only on her career to the detriment of her happiness and mental health. Noni fires Macy as her manager. Meanwhile, Kaz has begun a political campaign and reflects on whether his career should take precedence over his personal happiness. Inspired by Kaz's honesty, Noni gives a television interview where she admits to having attempted suicide and says she is getting help. Noni prepares for her first live performance in London, and shortly before going onstage suddenly encounters Kaz, who has taken a flight there and expresses his love for her. Noni performs a song she has written to an enthusiastic audience. She brings Kaz onstage, tells him that she loves him too, and they embrace.

Cast

• Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Noni Jean^[4]
• Minnie Driver as Macy Jean^[5]
• Nate Parker as Kaz Nicol^[4]
• Danny Glover as Captain David Nicol^[4]
• Machine Gun Kelly as Kid Culprit^[5]
• Aisha Hinds as J Stanley
• Jordan Belfi as Steve Sams
• Hayley Marie Norman as Shai
• Tom Wright as Reverend Brown
• Jesse Woodrow as Carl
• Jasmine Vargas as the waitress in the night club
• Estelle as herself

Production

On August 15, 2013, Relativity Media bought the worldwide rights to the film, originally titled Blackbird. Relativity Media also financed and distributed the film. Ryan Kavanaugh produced along with Stephanie Allain.^[4] On December 6, 2013, Relativity set the film for a November 14, 2014 release date.^[3]

Casting

Three stars—Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nate Parker, and Danny Glover—were already in the ensemble cast on August 15; Raw played Noni Jean, a new singer. Parker played Kaz Nicol and Glover played Captain David Nicol.^[4] On September 25, 2013, Minnie Driver and Machine Gun Kelly also joined the cast; Driver played Noni's mother Macy Jean while Machine Gun Kelly played Kid Culprit, a rapper.^[5]

Filming

Principal photography commenced on August 21, 2013, in Los Angeles.^[6]

Soundtrack

Main article: Beyond the Lights (soundtrack)

Relativity Music Group released a soundtrack album for the film on November 10, 2014, which features the original song "Grateful", written by Diane Warren and performed by Rita Ora.^[7] Three songs featured in the film but absent from the soundtrack are Beyoncé's "Drunk in Love," India.Arie's "I Am Light" and Amel Larrieux's "Don't Let Me Down".

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 83% based on 93 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Thanks to smart direction and a powerhouse performance from Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Beyond the Lights transcends its formulaic storyline to deliver thoroughly entertaining drama."^[8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.^[10]

The Hollywood Reporter praised Mbatha-Raw's performance as "incandescent" and Prince-Bythewood's script for its "surprising integrity."^[11] Hitfix said the film's excellence showed that writer/director "Gina Prince-Bythewood isn't working enough,"^[12] while Variety called it "messy but undeniably entertaining."^[13]

Accolades

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2014	Gotham Awards	Best Actress	Gugu Mbatha-Raw	Nominated
	Capri, Hollywood	Rising Star	Gugu Mbatha-Raw	Won
2015	NAACP Image Awards[14]^[failed verification]	Outstanding Motion Picture		Nominated
		Outstanding Actor	Nate Parker	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actor	Danny Glover	Nominated
		Outstanding Directoring	Gina Prince-Bythewood	Nominated
	Black Reel Awards[15]	Best Film	Beyond the Lights	Nominated
		Best Director	Gina Prince-Bythewood	Nominated
		Best Actor	Nate Parker	Nominated
		Best Actress	Gugu Mbatha-Raw	Nominated
		Best Screenplay, Adapted or Original	Gina Prince-Bythewood	Nominated
		Best Original or Adapted Song	Diane Warren "Grateful"	Nominated
		Outstanding Original Score	Mark Isham	Nominated
	Academy Awards	Best Original Song	Diane Warren "Grateful"	Nominated

See also

• List of black films of the 2010s

References

1. "BEYOND THE LIGHTS (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. September 4, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
2. "Beyond the Lights". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
3. McNary, Dave (December 6, 2013). "Relativity's 'Blackbird' to Fly on Nov. 14, 2014". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
4. Fleming, Mike Jr. (August 15, 2013). "Relativity Acquires 'Blackbird,' Next Film By Helmer Gina Prince-Bythewood". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
5. Sneider, Jeff (September 25, 2013). "Minnie Driver, Rapper Machine Gun Kelly Join Relativity's 'Blackbird'". TheWrap. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
6. "Feature Film "BlackBird" Casting Call for Featured Extra Role in Los Angeles California". Project Casting. August 21, 2013. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
7. filmmusicreporter (October 27, 2014). "'Beyond the Lights' Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
8. "Beyond the Lights (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
9. "Beyond the Lights Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
10. Brueggemann, Tom (November 16, 2014). "Top 10 Takeaways: 'Dumb & Dumber To' Edges 'Big Hero 6' for Top Spot as 'Interstellar' Falls to Third". IndieWire.
11. Rooney, David (September 11, 2014). "'Beyond the Lights': Toronto Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
12. Ellwood, Gregory (September 8, 2014). "Review: Impressive 'Beyond the Lights' proves Gina Prince-Bythewood isn't working enough". Hitfix. Uproxx. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
13. Barker, Andrew (September 8, 2014). "Toronto Film Review: 'Beyond the Lights'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
14. "Nominees". NAACP Image Awards. NAACP. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
15. Black Reel Awards (December 17, 2014). "15th Annual Black Reel Awards Nominate a Spate of Familiar Faces". Black Reel Awards. Retrieved August 22, 2018.

External links

• Beyond the Lights at IMDb
• Beyond the Lights at the TCM Movie Database
• Beyond the Lights at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Beyond the Lights at Box Office Mojo
• Beyond the Lights at Rotten Tomatoes
• Beyond the Lights at Metacritic