Back to Black movie – Release date, cast, age rating & everything else to know about the acclaimed new celebration of Amy Winehouse

Arguably the greatest singer of her generation, Amy Winehouse takes the stage once more in the Back to Black movie.

From the soul anthems that soar on ODEON’s surround sound to the young actress capturing the dazzle of post-millennial pop’s unforgettable icon, check out our movie guide.

Back to Black release date: 12 April 2024

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Back to Black movie buzz – Why is everyone talking about the new Amy Winehouse movie?

As the queen of modern soul, Amy Winehouse recorded just two albums in her lifetime: 2003’s Frank and 2006’s sixteen-million-selling masterpiece Back to Black. But so indelible were her songs and shadow-eyed, wild-beehived image that she practically defines post-millennial pop.

Marisa Abela as Amy Winehouse in Back to Black film still

As The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis wrote: “Amy Winehouse is still, by consent, the most influential British pop artist of the 21st century, revered by Lana Del Rey, Sam Smith, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, credited by Adele with ‘paving the way for artists like me’”.

You surely know every note of Amy’s classic hits like Rehab, Valerie and Tears Dry On Their Own. But you’ve never felt the singer’s gale-force presence on the big screen quite like Back to Black, released 12 April at ODEON.

Back to Black film production – How did the new Amy Winehouse movie get started?

Having lived and breathed Amy’s meteoric rise in the noughties, Nowhere Boy director Sam Taylor-Johnson knew she could bring the singer’s story to the screen.

“My connection to Amy began when I left college and was hanging out in the creatively diverse London borough of Camden,” she recalled.

“I got a job at the legendary KOKO club, and I can still breathe every market stall, vintage shop, and street. A few years later, Amy wrote her searingly honest songs whilst living in Camden. Like with me, it became part of her DNA. I first saw her perform at a talent show at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho and it was immediately obvious she wasn’t just ’talent’ – she was genius.”

Back to Black film plot – What happens in the new Amy Winehouse movie?

At heart, Back to Black is a toast to a once-a-generation talent – so expect a front row seat as the champagne-soaked highs of Amy’s career play out, from her lift-off in Camden Town to her record-breaking haul of five Grammy awards in 2008.

“What I wanted to do,” explained Taylor-Johnson, “is to celebrate and uphold her.”

Who is playing Amy Winehouse in the Back to Black movie?

Since graduating from RADA in 2019, Marisa Abela has been the British drama scene’s best-kept secret, scoring breakout TV roles in COBRA and Industry, and popping up as Teen Talk Barbie in last summer’s blockbuster. Obviously, embodying Amy and carrying a multi-million-dollar movie is the mother of all step-ups, but Abela’s performance in Back to Black is so true to life, you’ll swear she’s been created from a strand of the singer’s DNA.

Perhaps most intimidating of all, Abela even sang the soul queen’s vocals.

“It’s full-time preparation, it’s like an athlete,” vocal coach Anne-Marie Speed told The Guardian.

“People really underestimate how physical voice production can be. You want the vocal performance to be very close, but not an impression, because otherwise, you might as well just mime to her recordings. I was seeing her [Abela] four times a week for two-hour sessions for about three months before we started shooting. So it’s a big, big commitment.”

Back to Black movie soundtrack – What songs should we listen out for?

While Nick Cave and Warren Ellis scored the Back to Black movie, Universal and Sony opened up the vaults and granted access to Amy’s entire catalogue. Prepare to hear the brassy groove of soul anthems like "Rehab" on ODEON’s state-of-the-art surround sound – as loud, proud and intoxicating as the singer’s legendary concerts.

Cast of Back to Black – Who else stars in the new Amy Winehouse movie?

Amy was the icon, but Back to Black recruits some of our best modern actors to depict her inner circle. Britpack legend Eddie Marsan plays her father Mitch. TV stalwart Juliet Cowan plays the singer’s mother Janis Winehouse, while the great Leslie Manville (perhaps best-known for her Oscar-nominated turn in 2017’s Phantom Thread) is her jazz-singer grandmother Cynthia, who encouraged Amy to attend stage school in real life.

But the hardest character to cast – and play – is surely Blake Fielder-Civil, the singer’s divisive husband from 2007 to 2009. Fortunately, Skins and This Is England star Jack O’Connell is such a good actor that the role never becomes a pantomime villain.

“This is Amy's perspective,” Sam Taylor-Johnson told Empire.

“Who she loved was who she loved. Her relationships were her chosen relationships. Our judgement – about what they should have done, could have done, how it went – is separate to that. Within their relationship was just pure love, albeit toxic or not. This was her love story.”

Back to Black movie age rating – Who can see the new Amy Winehouse movie at ODEON?

For its language and sometimes gritty subject matter, the Back to Back movie age rating is ‘15A’. But Sam Taylor-Johnson has set the tone to ‘feel-good’, and after two hours of speaker-rattling soul in ODEON comfort, you’ll leave this movie clicking your fingers and walking on air.

Back to Black movie release date – When does the new Amy Winehouse movie come out?

The Back to Black movie is released on 12 April 2024 – and for the next 122 minutes, ODEON’s big screen and surround sound will plunge you back into this flashpoint of British music history, as Amy takes the stage once again.

“We really wanted to do it from Amy’s perspective, and through her eyes, to take us on the journey through her music, and through her words,” Sam Taylor-Johnson told Empire. “So that we're back with her…”

Don't miss Back to Black at ODEON from 12 April

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