In a genre often saturated with sugar-coated stories and selective memories, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché proves to be anything but.
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
United Kingdom · 2021
1h 29m
Director Paul Sng, Celeste Bell
Starring Poly Styrene, Celeste Bell, Ruth Negga, Neneh Cherry
Genre Documentary, Music
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey across the world and through her mother’s archives to reconcile their fraught relationship in this new documentary, featuring Oscar nominee Ruth Negga as the voice of Poly Styrene.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
An affectionate labour of love, cathartic yet bitterly honest, Bell and Sng’s films paints the full, unfettered picture.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
[A] riveting and valuable documentary.
As the story progresses, Bell’s decision to share the focus and to examine her relationship with her mother makes more sense, bringing an intimacy and tenderness to the rock documentary format.
Users who liked this film also liked
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
(風の谷のナウシカ)
A young girl's love called forth miracles.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan, United States • 1984
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Sumi Shimamoto, Ichirō Nagai, Gorō Naya, Yōji Matsuda, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Iemasa Kayumi
- Genre Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
As dark forces threaten, a king reignites a broken fellowship and a quest is undergone.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- New Zealand, United States • 2003
- Director Peter Jackson
- Cast Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom
- Genre Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
La Chinoise
(La chinoise)
In this dark political comedy, a group of French university students are studying Mao and decide to start a revolution.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1967
- Director Jean-Luc Godard
- Cast Anne Wiazemsky, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Juliet Berto, Michel Semeniako, Lex De Bruijn, Omar Diop
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
Rush Hour 2
An LAPD cop and a Hong Kong police detective become embroiled in a counterfeit money scam.
- ✭ ✭
- Hong Kong, United States • 2001
- Director Brett Ratner
- Cast Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, John Lone, Zhang Ziyi, Roselyn Sánchez, Alan King
- Genre Action, Comedy, Crime
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand, Tubi TV
The Great Silence
(Il grande silenzio)
His voice was the silence of death!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 1968
- Director Sergio Corbucci
- Cast Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Frank Wolff, Luigi Pistilli, Vonetta McGee, Mario Brega
- Genre Action, Western
- Available on Hoopla, Film Movement Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
The Great Gatsby
Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Australia, United States • 2013
- Director Baz Luhrmann
- Cast Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Elizabeth Debicki, Isla Fisher
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Poly Styrene is an incredibly underrated icon of punk music, and this documentary-- which was co-directed by her daughter-- absolutely did her justice. She was a complicated person, so it was so great to finally see her story told with so much compassion. The usage of archival material and diary entries from Poly herself really deepened my understanding of her.