Film

Take Me to the River

A documentary love letter to Memphis soul and Stax Records, where Terrence Howard brings together the titans who built the sound with contemporary artists to record an album together. It's less about the mechanics of music than the spiritual transmission of a style—how groove and authenticity live in the body and can be taught. For anyone who believes music is a living thing.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love the messy, collaborative business of making a record, watching seasoned Memphis players hand ideas down to younger artists until a song takes shape.

Skip it if you need a clear story spine or sharp pacing, since it lingers in studio sessions and reflection rather than following a dramatic arc.

What it asks of you: Expect a relaxed, ninety-five-minute stretch that rewards patience and an ear for music, with long stretches of talk and playing rather than quick cuts.

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

If you liked this

Muscle Shoals2013

Another documentary about a legendary Southern recording studio and the musicians who made magic there. Like Take Me to the River, it's about a place that became synonymous with a sound, and the people who refused to leave.

But It's more straightforward documentary work—less about mentorship, more about history and business. Slower pacing than a narrative film.

Muscle Shoals poster

Respect2021

Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin. A film about earning respect, about a woman who walked into rooms and changed them, and about the cost of genius. Celebrates soul music with real reverence.

But It's a conventional biopic in structure. Some moments feel like they're checking boxes rather than surprising you.

Respect poster

Soul2020

Pixar's meditation on jazz, artistry, and what it means to truly live. Visually stunning, and the jazz sequences capture something about groove that most films miss. A love song to Black American music.

But It's animated, so some viewers dismiss it as lighter than it is. The metaphysical stuff won't land for everyone.

Soul poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Take Me to the River

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Man Called Adam1966

Both are about the transmission and weight of a musical legacy—how a sound carries the struggles and triumphs of the people who made it. Both treat the music itself as moral inheritance.

A rare, barely-remembered film about a jazz trumpeter navigating race, addiction, and the search for meaning. It's about the weight of being an artist and a Black man simultaneously. Stunning, melancholic, real.

But It's obscure and slow. The film stock is degraded in places. This is a deep dive for devoted viewers, not an easy watch.

A Man Called Adam poster
More like this (6)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 22017

A film that uses its soundtrack as seriously as its plot. The music isn't wallpaper; it's essential to how characters relate, how scenes breathe. A blockbuster that trusts the audience to love songs.

But It's a Marvel film, which means spectacle and quips. If you're coming purely for music meditation, you'll get distracted by explosions.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 poster

Dreamgirls2006

A sweeping story about the cost of fame and the machinery of Motown, told with genuine emotional power. Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson are extraordinary. The music is the heartbeat.

But Heavily dramatized, and some of the plot choices are Hollywood formula. The narrative matters as much as the music, which isn't everyone's preference.

Dreamgirls poster

Ray2004

Jamie Foxx's Oscar-winning performance as Ray Charles. It's about overcoming blindness, creating a new sound, and never bending to what the industry wanted. A film about an innovator's refusal to be limited.

But Standard biopic structure. Some of the relationship drama feels like it's there to break up the music sequences rather than deepen them.

Ray poster

Godfather of Harlem2019

Forest Whitaker as Bumpy Johnson. The series is steeped in jazz and soul music—the soundtrack is a character itself. About a man navigating power, legacy, and the cost of ambition in a specific time and place.

But Crime drama first, music documentary second. If you're looking for something as focused on music as Take Me to the River, you'll spend a lot of time on plot.

Godfather of Harlem poster

Sound City2013

Dave Grohl's documentary about an LA recording studio and the musicians who passed through it. A genuine celebration of craft, analog recording, and the people who cared about the sound they made.

But It's rock and alternative music, not soul. More technical than spiritual in its approach. Assumes some familiarity with the bands involved.

Sound City poster

Daughters of the Dust1991

Both are about how cultural memory—music, tradition, soul—lives in bodies and gets passed between generations. Both treat this transmission as sacred, not nostalgic.

Julie Dash's masterpiece about a Gullah family on the cusp of leaving their island home. It moves like music—visual, non-linear, steeped in diaspora and memory. A film about how culture lives in bodies and gets carried forward.

But It's experimental in form and deliberately paced. No conventional plot. Demands active, patient watching. Some find it forbidding on first approach.

Daughters of the Dust poster

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