Admittedly, if I had been accosted prior to screening this with the need for an immediate answer to the question “Who is Linda Perry, and what is she known for?” I would have struggled. I know she’s a musician, unquestionably, but attaching her to a song? A band? I couldn’t have done it. That isn’t a deal breaker for me, as last year I fell in love with Janis Ian through her documentary, and I truthfully didn’t know she existed. I’m not a music critic, it is less weird for me to have gaps in my knowledge of musicians than it is films or filmmakers. So, I was naturally struck with the heavy hitters swinging by to talk about Linda Perry, including Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera, Belinda Carlisle, Kate Hudson, and Linda’s ex-wife Sara Gilbert. Perry isn’t just a singer, she is also a renowned songwriter, and has worked with dozens of artists.

So the comparison to last year’s Diane Warren: Relentless, which felt like a film made entirely to provoke Oscar voters, Perry is more interested in getting her story across, talking about things she’s interested in, and her life lessons and journey. She isn’t reminding Oscar voters how painful it is to be nominated 17 times without winning a competitive Oscar. Perry, shockingly with no Oscar nominations, isn’t even thinking about that. She’s invested in getting more women involved in certain gigs in the music industry, breaking down the stereotype that female guitarists play pink instruments, and reliving her rather traumatic youth, which fueled her own fears of becoming a mother herself.

She’s a queer icon, a musicians dream, and a badass. I learned so much about her, and that made it worth the time. It didn’t have audio description, which is more par for the course than not with indie documentaries, and it might have benefitted from it. I can’t call it a talking head documentary, because while there are interviews, it also has plenty of candid moments with Perry. It is balanced, the sign of a great documentarian, one who recognizes the power in showing and telling. Yes, a blind critic just mentioned the power in showing. Structurally, when dealing with artists, it is helpful to actually have us experience the art they create, so when the film breaks into a few musical moments, the movie is only made better. Perry sounds great still after all these years, by the way.

I always give a level of pause to documentaries that are about living people, and documentaries where the focus is also such a large part of the creative process. Sometimes, celebrities are cagey, and offer little to nothing except fluff, and are directed by film school grads happy to be there creating content for streaming services. Sometimes, you get an honest unflinching look into a living celebrity, like Still: A Michael J Fox Story, or even last year’s Janis Ian: Breaking Silence, where she really revealed quite a lot about her past for her audience. HBO is great at getting to the bottom of things, as evident in their two-part docs on Paul Reubens, Billy Joel, and Mel Brooks recently. It can be done. The question is always, will this be the definitive documentary, or will someone make another in ten years because this wasn’t enough. I felt Perry was giving us quite a bit of herself, so it works as that ultimate Linda Perry experience, for fans and newcomers to learn what she’s all about.

There might be a few more challenging and revealing documentaries of this ilk, but Linda Perry shows us why it should die here with this film. One day, as we all do, Perry will pass, and the multitudes of artists she’s worked with will pour their hearts out into social media, telling the world a giant was lost. Hopefully, in that moment, this documentary will have a massive resurgence, as people seek it out as the defining look at her life.

And, considering she’s not relentless, the Academy should give her a nomination just for not pandering for one like some other contemporaries are.

What’s Up? This documentary, which is an unflinching look into the life of an artist that is uncompromising, beloved, and deserving of her moment in the spotlight. I don’t want it to die here, I want more.

Fresh: 8.7/10