This four-part YouTube series documentary strips back the facade of fame and reveals the raw struggle of mental health and addiction, a battle singer Demi Lovato has for most of her life.
Released on March 23, 2021 and directed by Michael D. Ratner, we hear Demi’s side of the story. Alongside, we hear from her friends and families after her near-fatal overdose in 2018.
We all know (and love) Demi Lovato, as she has grown up with many of us from her child star debut in the Children’s TV show Barney to her iconic days in Sonny with a Chance and Camp Rock.
Not to mention her angelic voice that has the range of a thousand miles gaining thirteen top 40 singles, six of which have been in the top 10!
However, underneath all of the talent and success is the real Demi reliving her darkest highs and lows in this series.
It is an extremely hard-hitting documentary that dives into the most harrowing times in Demi’s life; the emotions that are expressed in the series are emotional to watch as they discuss her struggles in great detail.
Demi also discusses her journey to discover her sexuality after a whirlwind engagement to actor Max Ehrich, which they broke off a few months later as it was revealed his “intentions weren’t genuine.”
Demi’s overdose in 2018 caused her to have three strokes, a heart attack, brain damage, pneumonia, and multiple organ failure.
The impact of her overdose means she can no longer drive, as she describes how she now has blind spots in her vision as a result, but the doctors saved her with quick thinking in the first 24 hours.
Prior to her relapse, she used Cocaine and Xanax although she overdosed from Cocaine and Heroin which she had not tried before, ending her six years sober.
Furthermore, Demi opens up about having suffered sexual trauma throughout her childhood and teenage years being a victim of rape when she was just 15; on the night of her 2018 overdose, she was sexually assaulted by her drug dealer.
He had laced the drugs with fentanyl, took advantage of her, and then left her for dead until her assistant found her the next morning.
Over the last two years, she has been identifying and confronting her traumas which she has been able to delve into deeper because of the Coronavirus lockdowns this last year.
Dancing with the Devil is her latest single following the documentary all about her overdose, near-death experience, and journey to sobriety.
The single was released on March 26 and just about sums up the series in four minutes with the music video re-enacting the night of her overdose; it is evident that music is Demi’s escape from her reality.
The overriding message of the complex documentary is that you cannot help someone until they want to get help and often it takes a near-death experience for them to realise that.
Demi explains that she is not completely sober after her overdose but that the “journey to sobriety isn’t one size fits all” – therefore what might work for her recovery will not work for everyone.
At just 28 years old, this popstar has suffered and survived huge lows in her lifetime accompanied by incredible highs in her career; yet her consistency to want to help others deal with similar issues shows her strength and determination to face her demons head on.
You can watch the full series documentary on YouTube now – Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devils.
Rating: 8/10
By Shannon Samecki
Feature image: YouTube.com