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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

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.

Stream Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

What are people saying?

Meret Kelsey Profile picture for Meret Kelsey

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.

What are critics saying?

100

Consequence by

In a genre often saturated with sugar-coated stories and selective memories, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché proves to be anything but.

80

CineVue by Matthew Anderson

An affectionate labour of love, cathartic yet bitterly honest, Bell and Sng’s films paints the full, unfettered picture.

80

Screen Daily by Wendy Ide

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.

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