Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl

Joss Crowley's 2022 documentary runs from Shania Twain's poor childhood in Ontario to her becoming, in the nineties, the artist who fused country with pop and sold it worldwide. It proceeds chronologically and rests on Twain's own account. Its strongest stretches concern the resistance she met early on. Being judged too pop for country radio and too country for the pop charts, the backlash her video aesthetic drew in conservative circles, and her insistence on writing her own songs all serve as reminders of how she was received at the time. Lionel Richie, Avril Lavigne and Kelsea Ballerini speak to the influence. Its weakness is a narrow critical distance, since Twain is involved as a producer. The effect of Lyme disease on her voice is discussed, while the crisis in her private life is passed over quickly. It was made for Netflix. Who it's for: those who know Twain's music and are curious about nineties country pop history. Who it's not for: viewers wanting a portrait outside the artist's control; this documentary stays inside the official account.