Rocketman Movie Review
TLDR: Incredible movie. Go see it.
Have you seen this summer’s best fantasy musical biopic? (I’m not sure if there are any other movies that fit that category, but we’re still calling this one the best.)
If you’ve haven’t, you’re missing out. I’ll preface this by saying that I do not go to the movie theater often. I don’t know the last movie I saw in the theater; it was years ago. And you likely won’t see many more movie reviews on this therapy website.
But I have now seen Rocketman in the theater, THREE times.
It was that good. And it gets better the more times I see it. As a therapist, it’s impossible not to watch it through the lens of trauma, healing, recovery, and what happens when we allow ourselves to confront our pain and take off the mask.
This movie is a raw, beautiful, and sometimes gut-wrenching portrayal of Elton John and the pain he experienced in his life. This movie shines light on the childhood trauma he experienced and how it continued to impact and shape him for the rest of his life.
I often work with clients who have experienced childhood attachment wounds and emotional neglect. These are wounds that are often minimized and the long-term effects are not spoken about as often as some more visible forms of abuse and neglect that can be experienced. But the effects can be just as devastating.
In the movie, it shows how Elton survived many years of his life by putting on a mask. A scene depicted this in a painful way showing that as the extravagant glasses go on, so does the plastered smile to hid the deep pain inside. This is a concept I am far too familiar with personally and often explore it with clients in session. What would it be like to take off the mask? How can you allow yourself to show your pain as much as your joy? How can you allow the truth to show? What do you need to feel safe enough to do this?
Along with the masks, there are other ways of avoiding the emotional pain (read: survival) shown in the film including drugs, alcohol, sex, binging/purging, shopping, etc. (Content warning: there is depiction of suicide attempts).
There is a powerful scene towards the end of the movie during a group therapy setting that beautifully depicts a specific modality of therapy called IFS (Internal Family Systems). He has a chance to have conversations with different ‘parts’ of himself and ultimately gets to a chance to re-parent his inner child in an incredibly healing and tender way.
Other things to love: the soundtrack is INCREDIBLE and the actor playing Elton John does all the singing in the movie. Beautiful portrayal of love and sex. And that can be between two men. Love is love.
