Film

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé

Name: Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé
Genre: Music, Documentary
Released: 2023
Cast: Beyoncé, JAŸ-Z, Blue Ivy Carter, Sir Carter, Rumi Carter

Musical
Light-hearted

A 170-minute concert film documenting Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour: a technical and creative masterclass in motion. It's meticulous, euphoric, and deeply personal—less about the hits and more about the woman designing the experience. For anyone who believes pop music can be high art, or who's simply moved by watching someone at the absolute peak of their power.

TMDb rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you find yourself won over by the mechanics of spectacle, the way one artist sweats over every lighting cue, costume change and stage transition until a huge crowd moves as one.

Skip it if you want a tight concert film, since at nearly three hours this one lingers on planning and backstage conversation between songs and can feel like a lot of ceremony.

What it asks of you: Long and patient in shape, it lets stage-building and reflective passages stretch between the big numbers, rewarding a viewer willing to settle in for slow accumulation.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Woodstock1970

The foundational concert film—masses of people, a moment that mattered, raw footage of artists at a cultural inflection point. Renaissance clearly knows its lineage here.

But Documentary approach means less high-production sheen than you might expect from a 2023 film. Some stretches feel archival rather than cinematic.

Stop Making Sense1984

Demme's Talking Heads concert film is about the *design* of the show as much as the music. Beyoncé's film shares that obsession with how a stage becomes a world.

But Minimal narrative; if you want a story arc beyond 'the tour happened brilliantly,' you'll feel the lack.

TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR2023

Taylor Swift's concert film shows how a modern pop documentary can balance spectacle with intimacy. If you loved Renaissance, this explores similar territory from a different angle.

But It's longer than this already is, and covers different emotional ground. Comparing them head-to-head invites endless debate.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Pink Floyd: The Wall1982

Both are artist statements about craft, control, and legacy. Neither is a traditional concert film—they're both the artist's vision of themselves made total and visible.

Conceptual album turned film: Gerald Scarfe's animation married to Waters' music creates a total artistic statement. Like Renaissance, it's uncompromising about what a concert film can be.

But Genuinely dark and bleak; almost aggressively anti-escapist. If you want escapism, this is its opposite. Also: 95 minutes feels both too long and too short.

Shine a Light2008

Scorsese filming the Rolling Stones: another master documenting genius at work, with a director's eye as invested as the performer's craft.

But Feels staged in places; less immersive than Renaissance because it was shot in a single venue rather than across a tour.

Under the Skin2014

Jonathan Glazer's film is hypnotic cinema driven by electronic music and visual precision. Renaissance has that same commitment to mood over conventional narrative.

But Glacial pacing and abstract storytelling. Completely different in content, so the connection is purely tonal—some will find that tenuous.

The Bodyguard1992

Houston's presence, the scale of production, the way fame and performance are examined. Renaissance echoes some of that inquiry into what it costs to be extraordinary.

But A narrative film, not a concert doc. The comparison works thematically but not formally, which can be unsatisfying.

Rumor Has It...2005

Not a documentary, but Beyoncé's star power as a performer is on full display. If you're drawn to her as a screen presence, this reminds you why.

But It's a romantic comedy that doesn't quite land. Far less serious in intent than Renaissance, and the film itself isn't strong.

Three Colors: Blue1993

Kieslowski's meditation on music, grief, and the inner life of an artist. Renaissance shares its quiet conviction that performance is philosophy.

But Entirely different in structure and feeling—a slow, philosophical European arthouse film. The connection is abstract; this will only resonate if you're in the right headspace.

Dancer in the Dark2000

Both films locate transcendence in the body and its movement. But where Renaissance celebrates the body's power, this film uses it to show vulnerability and suffering.

Lars von Trier films musical performance as catharsis and survival. Björk's dance sequences are performances—deliberate, precise, desperate. Renaissance shares that idea of movement as meaning.

But It's devastating and brutal. Von Trier's film ends in tragedy. The tonal whiplash from Renaissance to this is real and jarring.

Koyaanisqatsi1983

Both are visual essays in rhythm and repetition. Both trust the image and music to carry meaning without explanation. Both are designed to be total sensory experiences.

Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass's experimental film is pure image and music with no dialogue. It's meditative, hypnotic, and a masterwork of visual rhythm. Renaissance's formal precision and pacing echo this.

But Abstract and wordless; it's about mood and structure rather than narrative or personality. Some will find it remote or alienating.