Child Star

This 2024 documentary, directed by Demi Lovato with Nicola Marsh, is about what becoming famous as a child does to a person. Lovato talks with Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci, Raven-Symoné, Kenan Thompson and Alyson Stoner among others, all people who started young and grew up in public. It is not content with individual stories and looks at the system itself: working conditions on set, guardian contracts, control over earnings, and the identity crisis that arrives with adulthood. Lovato originally did not intend to appear on screen; in the end the film takes in her own experience too. It is her first work as a director. The tone is questioning rather than accusatory. Who it's for: viewers curious about working conditions in the entertainment industry and documentaries about fame. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a harder, more structural critique of the industry; the film moves mostly through personal testimony.