Ozymandias: The Movie

Official poster for Ozymandias: The Movie (2

Anthony Seyler

Trevor Smith

Chelsea Dodson

Thalia Stewart

Gregory Stewart

Lee Rosch

Lindsay Utz

Jason Zeldes

Romania

South Africa

Somalia

Tanzania

***Ozymandias: The Movie*** is a 2018 American documentary film directed by Mitch Stewart, that follows American-Romanian singer-songwriter Nicholas Stewart and his life over the course of several years of his career. It was released on Netflix and in select theaters on May 25, 2018.

*Ozymandias: The Movie* has been described as an unvarnished and emotionally revealing look at Stewart. It tackles more his lifelong battle from anemia and his bipolar disorder diagnosis in 2014. It also features flashbacks on his early career and the hardships he went through to reach stardom. The film is set in the time period spanning from Stewart's WORLDWIDE OPERATION. tour (2016) to the release roll-out of his ninth studio album *Ozymandias* (2017), dotted with flashback clips portraying several undisclosed events of Stewart's life and career.

The film debuted at the opening night of 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2018, to critical acclaim centering on its intimacy and vulnerability. It also became the highest-rated Netflix-original biographical documentary by a recording artist in IMDb history. The film was selected by the National Board of Review as one of the five best documentaries of 2018. Publications have listed *Ozymandias* amongst many best films and documentaries lists. Accompanying the film's release, "La Revedere", a song by Stewart featured in the end credits, was included on his 2019 Romanian album *Dor De Casă* and was released as a single in Europe. The film was selected by the National Board of Review as one of the five best documentaries of 2020. Publications have listed *Ozymandias: The Movie* amongst many best films and documentaries lists.

## Background and production

Stewart expressed interest in making a documentary with ABC following the success of his concert film *Journey To The Year 3000!! Live*, which was released in the United States in November 2002. The plan was postponed many times until it was scrapped in 2010, when Stewart was married with his ex-wife Gina Walterz. In mid-2016, Stewart decided to revive the project. He undoubtedly chose his brother, Mitch Stewart, who had been filming their home videos since 1988. At that time, Mitch Stewart had already directed twelve documentaries and five blockbuster films. He began filming the documentary at the end of the *OPERATION CANCELLED.* album and tour cycle, and joined Stewart for recording sessions of his subsequent album *Ozymandias.* The two brothers travelled to different countries especially popular landscapes such as the Mt. Andes mountain range in West South America and the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa.

The title of the documentary is borrowed from *Ozymandias*, the title of his Stewart's studio album, in which Stewart expressed his lifelong battle from his life condition, and hardships.

Stewart revealed the documentary in March 2017, when he said his former business partner and head executive of his former label Sunrise Records, Zark Mockingbird and John Dough respectively, blocked him from using older music and performance footage for the documentary. He added that the documentary does not mention Mockingbird, Dough, or Sunrise Records. Sunrise Records denied the accusations in a statement. In response, a representative for Stewart published an email from a Sunrise Records executive refusing to issue licenses in connection to the documentary. In December, *Variety* reported Sunrise Records had cleared the use of Stewart's older material for the film.

In December 2017, Netflix revealed that the documentary was set to premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. In an interview with Hyde Jenkins of *Variety*, it was revealed that the opening act of the film deals with "juxtaposing the joys of creation with the aggravations of global stardom" while the second half is a "provocative turn focused on what Stewart 'is fighting for his life' ". Jenkins wrote that the film further features clips capturing Stewart's frequent hospitalizations in the 2000s, Stewart's coping mechanism from the divorce, Stewart's mental breakdowns and Stewart's recovery after the 2013 ambush and abduction. Wilson stated that she views the movie as "looking at the flip side of being America's good guy next door", meant to shed light on the less-glamorous side of fame and stardom.

*The Hollywood Reporter* wrote in December 2017 that the film was developed with a budget between $2 million and $3 million. They also claimed that the film was worth $25 million before being purchased by Netflix, but this claim was later denied by Stewart's team.

## Promotion

On May 15, 2018, Stewart revealed the release date and a poster of the film through her social media accounts. Six days later, an official trailer to the film was released on YouTube and on Stewart's social media accounts. On May 30, Stewart announced the list of select theatres that will play *Ozymandias: The Movie*, for a limited time. It includes 25 Alamo Drafthouse theatres and an iPic theatre in the United States, and the Prince Charles Cinema in the United Kingdom.

## Synopsis

Andes Mountain RangeSahara DesertNelson Mandela Prison Site, Robben Island, South Africa

The film begins in June 1990, Mitch Stewart waking up his brother Nicholas on the day of his high school graduation, then it fast forwards to Nicholas' introduction of his valedictory speech. Afterwards, a sequence of home videos were shown that were filmed during 1995-2016, including videos such as: Nicholas' first performance in an open crowd, his reaction on his debut single entering the Billboard charts, his panic attack before his first television appearance, being grumpy while writing a song on his notebook, his first words after waking up during his 2003 hospitalization ("Did we finish the last song?"), his proposal to his first wife, his breakdown during the divorce, his recovery after 2013 ambush, and his last show from his WORLDWIDE OPERATION. tour.

Throughout the first half of the film, it features mostly the Stewart brothers' trip outside the country with some flashbacks shown at the middle of each scene. During their post-vehicle trip to the Mount Andes mountain range, Nicholas talks about how he really wanted to climb tall mountains since he was a teenager, planning to do it only by himself but he decided to invite his brother Mitch, telling him he is his favorite person. As early as late afternoon, the two stop on the flattest surface possible and assemble their tent. At night time, Nicholas grabs his big "Nick-Notes" notebook and starts to write something. Mitch faces to the camera and tells the audience, "He's always like this, couldn't live without his pet notebook." The next night, Nicholas and Mitch sat near the bonfire they created. Nicholas played the ukulele while Mitch sung along with him in Romanian. On the third day, on the way to the mountain range's peak, Stewart opens up about thinking about what his two daughters are doing right now without him. He also tells Mitch how this trip means to him and during the trip, he was at his calmest and happiest since the incident three years ago. Finally sitting at the peak of the mountain, Nicholas grabs his ukulele and sings his newly-written Romanian song "La Revedere" under a starry dusk. He chokes on his own tears and gets his back rubbed by Mitch.
On their jeepney trip to the Sahara Desert, Nicholas has shared that he had already written more than 25 poems during their mountain trip, and forgot to count how many of them were English, he chuckled. The two talked about the very concerning political status of United States after the 2016 National Elections. While stopping by, Nicholas talked to the camels they met and even rode one of them on their way to their motel. The next day, Nicholas recited the whole Ozymandias poem on top of the rock. While reciting, flashbacks from his past years were shown, together with his memorable ups and downs. During his arrival in South Africa, visiting historic sites such as Nelson Mandela's jail cell on Robben Island heavily influenced Nicholas on the new direction of his new record and how he was deeply affected behind the story of Nelson Mandela. While on their way to the second mountain they climb, Mt. Kilimanjaro, the brothers stopped by with the Malaika people and sung Kilimanjaro chants all the way to the top.

While on their way home riding a private jet, Nicholas talked about how his bipolar disorder diagnosis in 2014 affected him and how he dealt with it since then. Arriving home at *Christmas Eve* Eve, Nicholas immediately ran to his daughters who waited for his arrival hours long, giving them a hug, also doing the same thing on his sister and father, Thalia and Gregory. Hours later, Nicholas received a phone call from his ex-wife Gina Walterz, thanking her to let their daughters stay with him for Christmas. During the phone call, he also told her how he's glad that they are still in touch with each other and still remained close friends, she told him that he's one of the strongest persons she have ever met. At the end of the phone call, Nicholas turned off his phone and smirked. On Christmas Eve, Nicholas helped his sister Thalia on wrapping gifts and were also talking about how they even rarely celebrate Christmas when they were kids. During the opening of the gifts, Nicholas didn't open his yet as he was adored by the reaction of his two daughters opening their own gifts. After he opened his first present, he reacted with a ridiculed look as he received a sex toy. He immediately stared at his brother and started chasing him around the mansion, then the film cuts to another video of them chasing together in 1991, when Mitch steals Nicholas' eyeglasses. While re-watching old home videos, Nicholas noticed his tired look while watching his 2002 Tour DVD, describing himself "wow, I really looked exhausted there." On his private meditating session in his bedroom, Stewart talked about how much he is thankful for his family to stop by on his penthouse twelve years ago, when he was about to commit suicide on New Year's Eve 2002/2003, and has changed his view of life ever since.

    The next day, Nicholas had a brief visit with his medical doctor and made sure he is ready to perform later that night, opening for the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. During the rehearsal, he said he was hesitant to perform and was afraid that he would mess up or pass out even already taking his medications. After his opening performance, Nicholas left the stage almost breaking down and was comforted by his father. For the remainder of the night, Nicholas climbed up the stage thirteen times to grab every award he received, and was cut to the last phrase of his final acceptance speech for Top Artist of the Year. During his private 42nd birthday celebration, Nicholas received a video call from his three half-brothers Ştefan, Cristian, and Daniel Năstase greeting him a Romanian happy birthday song and asked when he would visit the country soon and he responded "soon". During his workout session on the gym, Nicholas talked about his body insecurities, achieving a perfect body as an anemic patient: “it’s not good for me to see pictures of myself every day.”. Although he says “it’s only happened a few times, and I’m not in any way proud of it,” Nicholas admits there have been times in the past when he’s seen “a picture of me where I feel like I looked like my tummy was too big, or… someone said that I looked bloated… and that’ll just trigger me to just starve a little bit — just stop eating.”

One day, Mitch wakes up Nicholas on the day of the 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, in which he refused to get up and replied: "I'm not going to that scammys show. Half-kidding." During a ride in the car, Nicholas exclaims that life is good. At that night, Nicholas won five of his six nominations, leaving him feeling overwhelmed that night. Various events such as directing the music video for the song "LOYAL.", meeting Taylor Swift and Future for a collaboration, and the sneak peek of his recording sessions for his next album *Ozymandias* to be released later that year. The film ends by showing Nicholas singing "La Revedere", the song that he wrote on his mountain trip.

## Music

The documentary includes the song "La Revedere", playing during the end credits, which included on his 2019 Romanian album *Dor De Casă* and was released as a proper single in Europe. The song was written by Stewart during his trip to the Andes Mountain Ringe. Upon release, the song received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised its heart-breaking lyrics and its lullaby melody. "La Revedere" debuted and peaked at number one on the US *Billboard* Digital Song Sales chart, and entered the charts in several other countries. Being only released as a proper single in Europe, it was a massive hit on the continent and was one of his best-selling singles there.

## Critical reception

*Ozymandias: The Movie* was met with critical acclaim upon release. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a "certified fresh" approval rating of 94% based on 125 reviews, with an average rating of 7.98/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "*Ozymandias: The Movie* provides an engaging if somewhat deliberately opaque backstage look at a rock star turned cultural phenomenon." On Metacritic, it has a mean score of 85 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival to praise and a standing ovation from the critics and audience. *Ozymandias: The Movie* has been described as an intimate, genuine, funny and empowering film, documenting "his humble beginnings as a rockstar to his position as an influential figure in pop culture". Reviews complimented the film for Wilson's direction, and the "emotional heft" that came from Stewart's vulnerable interviews discussing issues such as eating disorder, and self esteem, and for capturing Stewart's creative process as well.

## Accolades

*Ozymandias: The Movie* has received various industry accolades.

### Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations for *Ozymandias: The Movie*
 Critics' Choice Documentary Awards
 2019
 Best Music Documentary/Special Program
 National Board of Review
 Golden Tomato Awards
 MTV Movie & TV Awards