‘Olivia Rodrigo: Driving House 2 U’ Assessment: Songs on Overdrive

Olivia Rodrigo, the pop sensation whose international megahit “Driver’s License” put her profession within the quick lane in 2021, is, naturally, driving a automotive within the first movie about her life.

She makes the identical journey — Salt Lake Metropolis to Los Angeles — within the director Stacey Lee’s movie on Disney+ as she did to file her wildly standard debut album, “Bitter.” It’s a trek that places Rodrigo in a reflective state, and Lee’s mood-infused movie is tailor-made to enchantment to the classic style of a Gen Z crowd that loves the grainiest of photograph filters. Her topic’s ruminations really feel overstated when paired with a retro-chic visible palette, so there are seems to be of intense longing that might make “Folklore”-era Taylor Swift proud.

However the extra Lee reveals Rodrigo gazing into the space, whether or not alone in a resort room or atop a hill, the extra it appears like a director’s cue quite than an natural second that the digicam simply occurred to catch. Within the scenes the place Rodrigo is brazenly sharing elements of her life that led to creating “Bitter,” authenticity appears to return extra simply.

As a efficiency piece, “Driving House 2 U” is an exhilarating and intimate showcase for Rodrigo, as commentary about her album’s tracks spills seamlessly, in musical-theater style, into “Bitter” tunes. Songs are newly organized and introduced in some breathtakingly scenic spots. It’s a movie that at the least succeeds in making you are feeling that it truly is in regards to the journey, not the vacation spot.

Olivia Rodrigo: Driving House 2 U (a Bitter Movie)
Not rated. Operating time: 1 hour 17 minutes. Watch on Disney+.