Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All (2023)

July 13, 2024 7:05 AM

An intimate look into the lives of one of the most iconic folk-rock bands in America - the Indigo Girls. With never-before-seen archival and intimate vérité the film dives into the songwriting and storytelling of the music that transformed a generation.

On Netflix, Apple and Prime.

posted by bunderful (2 comments total)

I strongly recommend this movie. I saw it about a year ago at SIFF 2023; I had expected basically a nostalgic look back. It's much more than that.

On the one hand, Amy Ray turns out to have been a compulsive videographer. A huge amount of the early history of the Indigo Girls exists on videotape, both performances and back stage conversations. This is a very transparent movie because of all that video and it's fascinating to see so much of the early days.

Further, it tells the full story of the Indigo Girls (along with a few personal revelations) up to the current day, so it's not just nostalgia. There's open discussion about alcoholism, gender identity, lots of stuff. Amy and Emily clearly wanted to tell a story about themselves as people, and succeeded. I think it's interesting even if you're not an Indigo Girls fan.
posted by Bryant at 11:31 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]

Oh my gosh this was so delightful! As Bryant says, seeing all of Amy's video archive is just amazing and brings the early years to those of us who missed them because we were in elementary school. There are several hard conversations in there that it was amazing for them to share. I feel like I understand them both as people so much more, and some of what we learned really helps understand how their music has evolved. And I loved the ending with their kids--Emily and her family at Glenlake pool in my old neighborhood in Decatur (we used to be neighbors! which I did not know until after they moved to a different neighborhood!) and Amy and her family in the Etowah River.
posted by hydropsyche at 1:01 PM on July 18 [2 favorites]