Director: Michael D. Ratner
Synopsis: “Demi Lavato: Dancing with the Devil” is a powerful YouTube Originals documentary event, exploring every aspect that led to Lavato’s nearly fatal overdose in 2018, and her awakenings in the aftermath.
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*MAJOR TRIGGER WARNINGS*
There is a reason this documentary is presented as a 4-part mini-series of episodes, at a 22-minute runtime, simply put: it is a lot to consume. Extremely heavy content is covered, leaving nothing undiscussed or off the table to deep dive into every grueling detail leading up to Demi Lavato’s overdose in 2018 and everything after to the current day. Throughout this documentary you hear from everyone, Demi herself, her family, her best friends, assistants, and even the doctor who treated her and had no idea who she was. The film opens strong—a fast-paced showing off of Demi’s level of fame, a mash-up of the behind-the-scenes of rock star life. We see Demi running costume changes backstage at her concert, asleep on a private jet, getting her makeup done, typical celebrity stuff. It’s flashy and glamorous. Then it goes quiet and still, and we see Demi on the phone and hear her mother, Dianna De La Garza, over speakerphone tell her about how amazing her concert was, and how positive things are, then text on the screen tells us this moment is one month prior to her overdose. This is the last calm moment before the chaos ensues.
When the overdose happened on July 23rd, 2018 Demi was in the middle of filming a documentary—so there is previously unseen footage sprinkled throughout these episodes to help tell the story and set the stage for where Demi was at during that time over her relapse and eventual overdose. Quickly though, the story takes us back to a rundown of her childhood and understanding where her roots stem from—growing up with a father who struggled with addictions and was abusive toward her mother which resulted in a complicated relationship with her and his eventual death. In addition to this, she reminisces about struggling with body image and eating disorders as a child from participating in beauty pageants at a young age and the competitiveness that comes with it, creating a toxic outlook on your body and mental health. This led to every aspect of Demi’s life being completely controlled and decided for her; the people she was around, the food she was consuming, even the food the people around her were consuming. Her life centered around trying to be well in a way that was obsessive and everyone was making decisions for her, she was making no decisions for herself. It isolated her and made her the poster child for sobriety and mental health, which harbored major guilt and let down for Demi. Sobriety is ultimately a choice you have to make for yourself, solely, and for so long, she could not make any decision, related to sobriety or not, for her own self.
Demi decided she wanted to try drinking to see what she could handle, and this is what sparked her habitual drug use. She says within 30-minutes of drinking red wine she was calling someone who she knew could provide her with drugs. The film gives a respectable look at exploring what this means for people with addictions and asking the question: what does it mean to not be completely clean and sober? Legend Elton John, who is featured says no—you’re either sober or you’re not. Plain and simple. But, is that realistic for all people? Can someone who has addictions and/or alcoholism ever just have a casual drink with dinner, ever again?
This documentary offers a safe space for open conversations about Demi’s life, but she was also adamant on this being a space where the people she affected can tell their truths. This is extremely important and admirable—because addiction does not only impact the life of the person but the people around them, too. This was especially relevant for Dani Vitale, friend and Demi’s former choreographer, who received harsh blame and backlash for causing Demi’s overdose because it was her birthday celebration that night it happened. Demi wanted her to be able to clear her name without sparing Demi’s name at all. Dani had received unthinkable death threats and lost numerous job opportunities because of this false claim.
This review barely scratches the surface of the intense content featured throughout Demi Lavato: Dancing with the Devil, so I urge people to take this on with major caution and to be aware of the significant amount triggers this could bring to a viewer. Along with drug and alcohol abuse, this deals with sexual assault and violence, and all of the aftermaths that accompanies these tragic things. The braveness that it took everyone involved to tell this story is commendable and it will change the way people look at and think of addiction.
