Better Man (film)

Better Man is a 2024 biographical musical drama film co-written, produced and directed by Michael Gracey about the life of English singer Robbie Williams. Williams is portrayed as an anthropomorphic chimpanzee with computer-generated imagery (CGI), performed by Jonno Davies using motion capture, and voiced by both Williams and Davies. Steve Pemberton, Kate Mulvany, Alison Steadman, and Damon Herriman also star.
Better Man premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival on 30 August 2024, and was released in the United States on 25 December 2024 and in Australia and the United Kingdom the following day. The film received positive reviews from critics, won nine AACTA Awards, including Best Film, and was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards, Critics' Choice Awards, BAFTA Film Awards, and Visual Effects Society Awards. It was a box-office bomb, having grossed $20.3 million on a $110 million budget.
The film tells the life story of singer Robbie Williams, but with Robbie portrayed as a CG-animated anthropomorphic chimpanzee because, as he puts it, he always felt "less evolved than other people." No other character comments on his appearance.
In 1980s Stoke-on-Trent, eight-year-old Robbie is humiliated during a football game and storms off in anger. At home, he finds solace in his grandmother Betty's support and his father Peter teaches him to sing in a style inspired by Frank Sinatra, although he also tends to leave Robbie feeling worthless. During a production of The Pirates of Penzance, Robbie's recovery from an accident impresses the audience. However, his happiness is cut short by Peter's failure to show up. He later leaves on a bus, abandoning the family. Robbie clings to items linked to his father, salvaging them during a move to a smaller home ("Feel").
As a teenager, Robbie declares his ambition to be a famous singer despite criticism during a career counselling session. His perseverance peaks when he learns of an audition for a boy band in Manchester. Initially rejected, Robbie's determination and confidence secures him a spot in the pop group Take That.
The band's early days are marked by performances in gay clubs, gradually building a fanbase ("I Found Heaven"). A pivotal performance to a crowd of teenage girls propels them to stardom ("Rock DJ"). As their fame grows, Robbie struggles with self-doubt, battles with their manager, Nigel Martin-Smith, over creative control, and begins abusing drugs ("Relight My Fire"). These tensions culminate in Robbie's dismissal from the band after a meeting at Gary Barlow's mansion.
Following his departure, Robbie spirals into addiction, haunted by hallucinations that symbolise his internal pain ("Come Undone"). Despite initial setbacks, he forms a relationship with a member of the pop group All Saints, Nicole Appleton ("She's the One"), and a new partnership with songwriter Guy Chambers sparks a career revival ("Something Beautiful"). Robbie releases his first solo album Life thru a Lens, solidifying his success as a solo artist ("Land of 1000 Dances"), though his personal life remains troubled. His relationship with Nicole dissolves, and he suffers the loss of Betty ("Angels").
He later strains his relationship with his childhood friend, Nate, and his father. At Knebworth Festival, Robbie faces the nadir of his journey ("Let Me Entertain You"). Performing for 125,000 fans, Robbie struggles through the concert, paralyzed by fear and his failing mental health. In a symbolic sequence, Robbie takes up a violent battle with various incarnations of his past selves. This includes himself as a small child, whom he angrily slaughters. After the concert, Robbie nearly attempts suicide before relenting, realizing he must confront his problems.
The aftermath sees Robbie entering rehab, enduring a strenuous detox and beginning to change his life. He reconciles with his estranged friends and family, including a heartfelt reunion with Nate and an amicable parting with Nicole. He visits Betty's grave, finding peace in her memory, and commits to being a better version of himself ("Better Man").
At the Royal Albert Hall, Robbie reconciles with his father Peter onstage during a rendition of ("My Way"). He delivers a heartfelt tribute to Betty and finally addresses the visions of his past selves, transforming them from antagonists to sources of personal growth. He sees a vision of his younger self in the audience, reaffirming his purpose to inspire and entertain ("Forbidden Road").
The project was first announced in February 2021 as co-written and directed by Michael Gracey with Oliver Cole and Simon Gleeson also having co-writing credits, and Gracey also producing alongside Jules Daly for Big Red Films and Craig McMahon for McMahon International. Later that year it was reported that funding also came via the Australian government's Producer Offset and Film Victoria's incentive programmes. The film is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Roadshow Films with international sales handled by Rocket Science.
Described as a satirical musical, the project was reported to cover three decades of Robbie Williams' stardom, from his first success in popular music combo Take That through the ups and down of his career. The project was reported to "reinterpret and recontextualise" some of his songs.
Williams described the filming process as "super odd" because he would find himself sitting "in make-up and the lady that's playing your grandma is sitting next to you, and the people playing your mum and dad". Williams is portrayed and voiced by Jonno Davies as a CGI chimpanzee, using motion-capture technology, while Williams himself narrates the film and also provides the voice of himself in the film's final scene. While Williams re-recorded many of his songs featured in the film, vocalist Adam Tucker provides additional vocals including "My Way" and "She's the One" (with Kayleigh McKnight).
Other cast members include Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman, Anthony Hayes, Damon Herriman and Kate Mulvany, with Williams' Take That bandmates played by Jake Simmance (Barlow), Liam Head (Donald), Jesse Hyde (Owen) and Chase Vollenweider (Orange). VFX was provided by Wētā FX.
Principal photography took place at the Docklands Studios Melbourne, in May and June 2022. Filming of concert scenes from his Live at the Albert show in 2001 were filmed at the Royal Albert Hall in London during Williams' concert appearances there on 6 and 7 November 2022. Members of the public were able to purchase bargain price tickets to attend in evening dress for the gigs. Filming also took place in London in March 2023, as well as Krnjača, between Belgrade and Pančevo, Serbia.
Songs by Robbie Williams featured in the film include "She's the One", "Angels" and "Let Me Entertain You". Gracey stated that the songs would be "re-sung", to suit "the emotion of the moment" in the film. The original score was composed by Batu Sener. On 22 November 2024, Williams released the single "Forbidden Road", taken from the film's soundtrack; it peaked at number 20 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart.
The soundtrack album to Better Man was released on 27 December 2024. On 3 January 2025, the album debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Downloads Chart, and at number 4 on the UK Soundtrack Albums Chart. After its release on physical formats, the album debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart.
Better Man premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2024. Additionally, the film opened the 55th International Film Festival of India on 20 November 2024.
The film was theatrically released on 26 December 2024 in Australia by Roadshow Films and in the United Kingdom by Entertainment Film Distributors. It had a limited theatrical release by Paramount Pictures in the United States on 25 December, before a wider release on 10 January 2025. On why Paramount chose to acquire the film, Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian points out that the studio wanted to replicate the success of a traditional sleeper hit where it would bomb theatrically at first and then gradually find momentum by releasing it on home video through positive word-of-mouth, pointing out the allure of the film's bizarre premise as a selling point.
As of 27 February 2025, Better Man has grossed $2 million in the United States and Canada, and $18.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $20.3 million. Better Man received tepid box office receipts in the UK and Australia, having grossed a respective $6.1 million and $2.5 million, as of 15 January 2025.
In the United States and Canada, the film had a limited release for two weeks before expanding into a wide release in its third weekend, where it was projected to gross $2 million from 1,291 theaters. The film ended up debuting to just $1.1 million, finishing outside the box office top 10. Deadline Hollywood noted that the film was bound to flop in the US since it had failed to perform well even in Williams' native United Kingdom, and also noted its results as worse than other films playing on far fewer screens, including The Brutalist ($1.38 million from 68 theatres) and The Last Showgirl ($1.53 million from 870 theaters).
The film's failure at the box office in North America was widely attributed to Williams' obscurity there. Aware of this while making the film, Gracey had attempted to counter the problem by portraying Williams as a primate, hoping the film would resonate with American audiences.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 209 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Daring to substitute its marquee star with a VFX creation and somehow pulling it off, Better Man makes a monkey out of the traditional musical biopic to thrilling effect." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an 83% overall positive score, with 63% saying they would "definitely recommend" it.
Clint Worthington of RogerEbert.com awarded the film 4 out of 4 stars. He praised the pacing, the musical sequences, and the inventiveness, writing that the use of a monkey to portray Williams delivered a "curveball" away from the usual tropes of the musical biopic. In a 3 1/2 out of 4 star review for The Washington Post, Michael Andor Brodeur described the computer-generated monkey as "astonishingly expressive and strangely disarming" for recounting Williams's journey through fame. In another positive review, Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times commended the film for capturing the vulnerabilities of Williams as he struggled with addiction, insecurity, and relationships, writing: "Neither hagiography nor hatchet job, the movie casts an understanding eye on a once-infamous musical artist who weathered dizzying highs and devastating lows".
In a negative review, Kevin Maher of The Times gave the movie 1 out of 5 stars, viewing it as a self-aggrandizing and vapid recounting of Williams's career. Maher wrote: "The subject's decision to cast himself as an 'unevolved' monkey buys him a licence to litter the rest of the movie with tedious therapy-speak, a phoney yearning for acceptance (even as he nurtures delusions of divine grandeur) and a mother lode of narcissistic victimhood".
Filmmakers Tim Fehlbaum and Drew Goddard both cited Better Man as among their favorite films of 2024, with Fehlbaum saying "This concept is so anarchic and wild that it's hard to put into words how this film works; you have to see it to believe it. Michael Gracey has just created one of the best music biographical films of all time, certainly the most original."
Late night host Taylor Tomlinson dedicated an entire segment of her comedy panel game show After Midnight to praising Better Man.
The song "Forbidden Road" from the film was nominated for Best Original Song at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards. It was initially shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 97th Academy Awards, but was disqualified a few days later after it was found it incorporated material from another song. The film was then only nominated for Best Visual Effects.
Better Man received a record-breaking 16 nominations at the 2025 AACTA Awards, winning in nine categories, including Best Film. The film was nominated in four categories at the 23rd Visual Effects Society Awards for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature, Outstanding Character in a Photoreal Feature, Outstanding Compositing and Lighting in a Feature, and Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project. It also received a nomination for Best Special Visual Effects at the 78th British Academy Film Awards.