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Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

Play trailer Poster for Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché 2022 1h 29m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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98% Tomatometer 56 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Poly Styrene was the first woman of color in the UK to front a successful rock band. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements. But the late punk maverick didn't just leave behind an immense cultural footprint. She was survived by a daughter, Celeste Bell, who became the unwitting guardian of her mother's legacy and her mother's demons. Misogyny, racism, and mental illness plagued Poly's life, while their lasting trauma scarred Celeste's childhood and the pair's relationship. Featuring unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary follows Celeste as she examines her mother's unopened artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.

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Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

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Critics Consensus

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché pays worthy tribute to its trailblazing subject with a documentary that honors her life as engagingly as it chronicles her career.

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Critics Reviews

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Lisa Kennedy New York Times 02/03/2022
More than a journeyman rockumentary, “Poly Styrene” is a thoughtfully finessed filial reckoning: a daughter’s journey toward understanding her mother as a young artist and as a young woman of color. Go to Full Review Glenn Kenny RogerEbert.com 02/02/2022
3/4
This is not a banal or mundane fake-objective music history doc: it's an almost real-time chronicle of a daughter coming to grips with a mother's legacy. Go to Full Review Tim Stegall Austin Chronicle 01/27/2022
Unique and affecting... Go to Full Review Greg Carlson Vague Visages 01/16/2023
“‘Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché’ is not a critical deconstruction of X-Ray Spex’s music, but enough time is spent and enough awesome performance footage is included to send newcomers in search of ‘Germfree Adolescents’ (1978) and more.” Go to Full Review Molly Adams In Review Online 02/25/2022
Poly Styrene: I Am A Clich manages to hold true to its overlapping perceptions of its subject, maintaining a well-balanced tension between the two that makes for fascinating viewing. Go to Full Review Martha K. Baker KDHX (St. Louis) 02/18/2022
If you know squat about punk music, if you've never heard of Poly Styrene, this biography holds little appeal beyond idle curiosity. If, however, the singer spoke loudly to your life as her fan, the film satisfies idol curiosity. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

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Cast & Crew

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Celeste Bell

Director

Paul Sng

Director

Ruth Negga

Voice of Poly Styrene

Thurston Moore

Actor

Kathleen Hanna

Actor

Vivienne Westwood

Actor

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Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché (2021) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Poly Styrene was the first woman of color in the UK to front a successful rock band. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements. But the late punk maverick didn't just leave behind an immense cultural footprint. She was survived by a daughter, Celeste Bell, who became the unwitting guardian of her mother's legacy and her mother's demons. Misogyny, racism, and mental illness plagued Poly's life, while their lasting trauma scarred Celeste's childhood and the pair's relationship. Featuring unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary follows Celeste as she examines her mother's unopened artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.
Director
Celeste Bell, Paul Sng
Producer
Rebecca Mark-Lawson, Daria Nitsche, Matthew Silverman
Screenwriter
Celeste Bell, Zoë Howe
Distributor
Utopia
Production Co
Polydoc Films, Velvet Joy Productions, Generation Indigo Films, Tyke Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 4, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 11, 2025
Runtime
1h 29m
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