With Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, We Are Born Free

Few people have had a busier 2023 than Beyoncé. After taking her highly successful Renaissance tour to 56 cities across 10 countries, she decided why not end the year with a feature film detailing the process? Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé opened in AMC theaters on December 1, showcasing the work that went into the tour and Beyoncé’s eighth studio album of the same name, which dropped in July 2022. Half concert movie, half documentary, the nearly three-hour film gives an intimate behind-the-scenes look at the legendary artist.

The film opens with Beyoncé performing the first song on the tour’s set list, “Dangerously in Love.” The camera takes turns between concertgoers in awe, with tears streaming down their faces, and Beyoncé—who, after a moment, loses her composure and does the same. A transfer of energy, as she calls it at the end of the film: “I am transferring energy to the audience, and they transfer it back to me.”

The first peek behind the curtain is dedicated to her crew and the process that went into constructing and deconstructing the stage each night. On this tour, she made the decision for her crew to wear reflective gear instead of the usual all-black attire. She wanted their work to be seen, to be celebrated. “They risk their lives,” she tells the camera, explaining how each screen making up the stage is constructed by hand.

In the film’s more intimate behind-the-scenes moments, it becomes immediately clear that the entire crew is there to support the vision of one person, Beyoncé. We watch as she watches. Giving her opinion on everything from choreography to stage lighting, her hand is present in every creative or logistical decision. The first act ends with what I would call the thesis of both the film and the tour. After expressing the importance of getting every detail of the show right, Beyoncé says, “It’s more than a concert—it’s a culture.”

It is impossible to talk about her work on Renaissance without talking about the influence of Black and queer culture that inspired it. The album was heavily inspired by the New York City ballroom scene of the 1970s and ’80s, where groups of queer and trans folks, mainly Black and Latinx, would come together and compete in competitions known as balls. The contestants, often hailing from designated “houses”—groups that functioned as alternative families for those disowned by their birth families—battle each other through dance movements and grand displays of fashion. The film features a few prominent staples from the ballroom scene, most notably announcer Kevin JZ Prodigy, whose unique voice is sampled heavily throughout the album and tour.

The most touching tribute to the queer community is in the section about Beyoncé’s beloved “Uncle Johnny.” From her dressing room with her mother, Tina, at her side, Beyoncé tearfully recounts the impact that Johnny had on her life and work. Tina explains how their mother taught her brother to sew as an act of protection. Growing up in the 1950s South as a Black gay man, Johnny used his skill in fashion as a way to gain acceptance from those around him. Uncle Johnny passed away at the start of Beyoncé’s career. “I cry almost every night,” Tina says. “I look around at the crowd and I see him.” The film then cuts to Beyoncé performing the song “Heated.” The crowd screams back to her, “Uncle Johnny made my dress/That cheap Spandex, she looks a mess!”

Courtesy of Parkwood Entertainment

The most coveted cameo in the film, however, goes to none other than Blue Ivy Carter. Eleven-year-old Blue can be seen at her mother’s side during set-list meetings and show rehearsals. At one point, as she’s pleading with the adults in the room for the song “Diva” to stay on the set list. Beyoncé turns to her daughter and acknowledges that her voice is being heard but tells her that she can’t cut people off from speaking. And yet before she can finish the sentence, the film flashes to Beyoncé performing the song on stage— acknowledging that she took her daughter’s advice.

In Blue’s section of the film, she speaks openly about her growth as a performer and how she begged her mother to let her dance at one of the tour’s stops in Paris. Beyoncé explains that Blue was only supposed to do one show, but after reading negative comments about her performance online, the girl was determined to prove the naysayers wrong. During the concert, Blue joins her mother on the stage while she sings “My Power,” a song from the 2019 Lion King soundtrack. The chorus repeats, “They’ll never take my power.” For me, watching the duo perform side by side made one fact overwhelmingly clear: Beyoncé was put on this earth to bring people together and encourage them to stand in their power, her daughter existing next to her as proof.

What makes the work surrounding Renaissance so special is the space it provides for all who come in contact with it to be the fullest version of themselves. From the audience to Blue to the crew and everyone who performed on that stage, each night was a celebration of one’s own liberation.

The term “renaissance” means rebirth, and that is the fabric woven through every note of the album and every moment of the film. This work coming after a period of great uncertainty for many people only makes its influence stronger. When describing how she likes to work with the stage lighting, seeing it as its own art form, Beyoncé says, “Sometimes it’s not about adding more, it’s about subtracting. In the absence, you can see where the light needs to be.” In the dark, Beyoncé saw what was needed, what we needed, and filled that gap. With Renaissance, we are reborn. With Renaissance, we are free.