It's been a big year for Beyoncé: not content with winning yet another Grammy, the artist took her latest album Renaissance out on a five month long, sell-out tour. Making stops in 56 cities around the world, with five nights a London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the tour smashed multiple records, made over $579 million, and became the eighth most lucrative concert tour of all time (when not adjusted for inflation).
Now, she has directed Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, a film which revisits the huge live undertaking, and combines back to back sequences of the emotional crowds with lower-key clips of the superstar spending time with her family backstage, and footage of rehearsals with her dancers and crew in the run-up to the tour.
On Saturday the world premiere of the film was held in LA, and, expectedly, it was a star-studded affair, with everyone from Kris Jenner and Lupita Nyong'o, to Halle Bailey to various past members of Destiny's Child (including Kelly Rowland, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson) in attendance. The dress code was Cozy Opulence, and the celebrities dressed up accordingly, leaning into the glitz and glamour with sparkling silver suits and velvet gowns. Beyoncé didn't join her friends on the carpet, but slipped into the screening just seconds before the film began.
Finally, after months of build-up, we finally have some insight into the two-and-a-half-hour concert film, which is set to be released worldwide on December 1. Here are seven takeaways from the premiere.
1. There is a brief Destiny's Child reunion
4/5 Destinys child members made it to the #RenaissancePremiere ✨🍿
— Beyhiveontherun (@Beyhiveontherun) November 26, 2023
pic.twitter.com/zKjpbjRjIe
It's only a short clip, and fans will be crying out to know what actually went on behind closed doors, but Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé shows a shot of the private Houston Destiny's Child reunion that included original band members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, as well as Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.
Luckett and Roberson were in Destiny's Child between 1993 and 2000, before being replaced by Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin. Franklin, who doesn't appear in the film, then left the group after several months. “It was like a new birth for us, and a lot of healing,” says Beyoncé in the film.
Luckett and Roberson seemed to continue their support of Beyoncé over the weekend by showing up to her premiere.
2. Bey provides a look at the show behind the scenes
It's not a major surprise, but the film, as teased in the trailer, takes audiences behind the scenes of the record-breaking tour. Fans are taken on Beyoncé's journey, seeing her rehearse, spending time with her family, and reflecting on how she feels at this moment in her life: "I have nothing to prove to anyone at this point,” she says.
Given that she's one of the world's biggest superstars, it's surprising to hear Beyoncé reflecting on how tough she still finds it to make sure people to follow her instructions: “Communicating as a Black woman, everything is a fight," she says. “Eventually, they realise this bitch will not give up.”
3. Beyoncé confirms that the film is the visuals
Fans were dismayed when Beyoncé didn't release visuals to go with any of her Renaissance album tracks, other than several "visualisers" for single Break My Soul and its Madonna remix, and a very short teaser for I'm That Girl. While it may have looked like the beginning of a flurry of visual content, it never amounted to anything.
However, in July, during one of her concerts, she dropped a major hint: "You are the visual, baby," she told the crowd. It turns out she was speaking literally: the fans at the concert were recorded and turned into the film.
In the concert film, Beyoncé seems to confirm that this is the case by including the "You are the visual, baby," clip. On top of this, the crowds play a major part of the film, with shots of the dancing, screaming, joyous fans connecting the film's various sequences together.
5. Blue Ivy was only supposed to make one cameo
When Blue Ivy first popped up on stage, dancing alongside her mother in My Power and Black Parade, it set fans and the internet, into a frenzy. Beyoncé is notoriously private, and has only shared the odd detail about her children with fans over the years. So to see an 11-year-old Blue joining Beyoncé's dancers in fully-choreographed set pieces was a total treat for fans – and her appearance became one of the highlights of the show.
Turns out, Blue was only supposed to join Beyoncé on stage during one show – "She told me she was ready to perform, and I told her no,” says Beyoncé – but after some negotiation Blue managed to persuade her mother to let join her for more performances. Beyoncé was concerned about Blue's exposure, and her worries were realised when Blue found out that people on the internet were making fun of her dance moves.
In a very Beyoncé move, the mockery just spurred Blue on, and she rehearsed even harder. The extra time in the studio paid off: by the last show, which we've included a clip of above, Blue Ivy is very clearly at home on the Kansas stage.
6. It's an introspective endeavor
As with her previous film Homecoming (2019), Renaissance gives a highly editorialised glimpse of the other Beyoncé – the human being behind the superstardom.
In the film we get to see her spending time with her children and her mother Tina. She speaks fondly about her Uncle Johnny, who helped to raise her, and sewed many of her first stage costumes. He died from AIDS-related complications early in her career. Bey has called him "the first person to expose me to a lot of the music and culture that serve as inspiration for this album [Renaissance]."
She also speaks about her own struggles and determination: "The biggest growth in my artistry has come from overcoming failure, conflict and trauma,” she says. “But the next phase of my life, I want it to come from peace and joy. I am who I am, and you take me, or you don’t. It’s a really beautiful place to be as a woman… It’s the best time of my life. I thought I was there at 30, but nah, it’s getting better. Life is getting better. I spent so much of my life a serial people pleaser, and finally, I don’t give a f**k.”
7. Beyoncé was healing from knee surgery in the run-up to the tour
Never in a million years would we have guessed that the superstar had undergone surgery in the period before the tour, based on her high-energy performances. But, as documented in the film, Beyoncé did a lot of her rehearsals while her foot was still healing.
In the movie, we see Bey in rehab and working exhaustingly hard, as usual, to make sure she makes a full recovery in time for the tour: “Usually I only rehearse in heels, but because of my knee, I haven’t gotten that far yet,” says Beyoncé in the film. “It’s been hurting like crazy, but the best thing to do is to just get back on the horse.”
8. All your favourite songs will be in there
But in the midst of all the scene setting, Bey never forgets that this a concert film; and the movie shows long sequences of the live performances, including nearly every single song from the set list.
Beyoncé, it seems, is mindful that the much of the audience will be seeing the film instead of the live show because it was so difficult, and expensive, to nab tickets. It means that, just like the live Renaissance show, it's all about having an absolute ball.
