This unfocused documentary looks at the career of the rapper Juice WRLD, who died of an accidental overdose in 2019.
“Juice WRLD: Into the Abyss” opens with three and a half minutes of Juice WRLD, the rapper born as Jarad A. Higgins, freestyling in a single take. Not long after, the film shows him doing the same on a radio show. The most exciting moments in this documentary, directed by Tommy Oliver, showcase the artist’s ability to rap “off the top of the dome,” as the singer and rapper iLoveMakonnen says.
But much of the film consists not of blistering to-camera improvisation but of loosely structured backstage footage. Juice WRLD died at 21 of an accidental overdose in late 2019, and there’s an argument to be made that anything with him on camera has value. Even so, “Into the Abyss,” which mixes material from Juice WRLD’s tour stops with interviews and hangout and recording vignettes, isn’t particularly focused. At one point, Juice WRLD and the rapper Ski Mask the Slump God engage in a toy light saber battle.
The film shows its subject in a TV appearance talking candidly about anxiety and depression. “Whether he knew it or not, Juice was a therapist for millions of kids,” the music producer Benny Blanco says at the conclusion.
But “Into the Abyss” includes enough onscreen pill-popping to raise uncomfortable questions about documentary ethics. In retrospect, certain lyrics (“I pray to God for some water to wash down these Percs,” Juice WRLD sings in a previously unreleased track featured in the movie) unavoidably sound like warnings.
Juice WRLD: Into the Abyss
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes. Watch on HBO platforms.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
