GIRL YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE

(director/writer: Simon Verhoeven; cinematographer: Jo Heim; editors: Alexander Gerner, Felix Schmerbeck, Elena Schmidt; music: Segun Akinola; cast:Tijan Njie (Rob),Elan Ben Ali (Fab),Ingrid “Milli” Segieth (Bella Dayne), Graham Rogers (Todd Headlee), (Frank Farian); Runtime: 126; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Kirstin Winkler, Quirin Berg, Max Wiedemann; Vertical; 2023-Germany-in English & French, with English subtitles)

“I found little interest in this uninteresting musical biopic of living a lie.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A better than expected but still shallow musical biopic on the reviled pop music boy duo whose fame lasted 2 years from 1989 to 1990 when their lip-synching was exposed. Milli Vanilli, who never sang a note from their music because they couldn’t sing, but were the faces for the actual singers. They are played by Tijan Njie as the German breakdancer Rob Pilatus and Elan Ben Ali as Fabrice Morvan, the French choreographer, who both narrate their unethical story. The duplicitous boys were signed by the crooked German producer Matthais Schweighofer (Frank Farian) and become international superstars through their hit records until the scam is exposed.

Rob Pilatus died in 1998 at 33 from a drug overdose, Morvan is still alive and Matthais died this year. Rob’s sister Carmen is an associate producer for the film.

Their infamy is captured in this glossy musical drama by German filmmaker Simon Verhoeven (“Nightlife”/”Unfriend”) who makes the poor excuses for them that they were naïve pawns swallowed up by corporate greed and their superficial tastes. Gee, I thought they were just rip-off artists–I didn’t know they had such good excuses.

I found little interest in this uninteresting musical biopic on living a lie. If you want some of the details that went  into the scandal, you get it here. If you’re like me and could care less, I would avoid this glitzy film. If you must see a movie about their scandal, Luke Korem’s 2023 documentary did a better job of telling in more detail about the scandalous episode in musical history.

REVIEWED ON 8/25/2024  GRADE: C
dennisschwartzreviews.com