Rating: 4/5
The documentary “Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil” was released as a YouTube Original on March 23, 2021. The four-part docuseries depicts Demi Lovato’s near-death experience with a drug overdose and her journey towards recovery.
The documentary begins with a video of her last world tour, one month before her drug overdose. Due to her history of an eating disorder, Lovato was under strict control by her team so that she wouldn’t relapse into her mental illness. However, all of the control and pressure was too stressful, and she began using crack and heroin drugs as a way to cope after six years of being sober. Soon after her relapse, she started using drugs recreationally, and on July 24, 2018, after attending her friend’s birthday party, Lovato overdosed. This first episode in the documentary is well made, and the interviews from Lovato’s friends and family uncover all the details about Lovato’s overdose. The professional editing and serious tones set the somber mood for the rest of the documentary.
In the second episode of the documentary series, Lovato discusses the effects and the aftermath of the overdose. Lovato’s assistant, Jordan Jackson, found Lovato unresponsive in her room the morning after her overdose and was rushed to a hospital. Due to the drug overdose, Lovato reveals that she had three strokes, a heart attack, brain damage, multiple organ failures, and blind spots in her vision. When Lovato began listing out all of these health effects, I was shocked to see how harmful of an effect that the drugs actually had. It widened my view of how serious this overdose actually was and educated me about how life-threatening drug overdoses are.
The third episode shows how Lovato’s overdose not only harmed her but the people around her as well. People sent death threats to her colleagues and friends, saying that they should have supported Lovato more so that she would not have resorted to using drugs. Lovato also reveals that she was sexually assaulted as a teenager while she was still an actress on the Disney Channel. This led to the beginning of her eating disorder and self-harming. After signing with new management and receiving support from her friends and family after her overdose, Lovato was able to step out of her hiatus and pursue music again for the first time after her overdose. I think this is an important episode in the documentary because it clears up any misunderstandings involved with Lovato’s overdose. It also shows the beginnings of how she is recovering from what she faced in the previous two episodes.
In the final episode, Lovato talks about how she has recovered since her overdose in 2018. Although she isn’t entirely sober now, she is taking drugs in moderation to help with her addiction. Being in quarantine over the past year has also allowed her to work on herself and reflect on how she can do better.
Lovato’s documentary series provides a glimpse into what it’s like to be a drug overdose survivor. The documentary gives insight into the harmful effects of addiction and the aftermath of a drug overdose, and how the pressures that Lovato faced as a celebrity since her teenage years had hurt her physical and mental wellbeing. Lovato shows her journey towards recovery and learning how to better herself. This vulnerable documentary is well-made, and the honest interviews from her family and friends in the documentary show how much of an impact that Lovato’s overdose had on the people in her life. Overall, I rate the documentary “Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil” a 4 out of 5.