Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)
Hulu | Release Date (Streaming): February 13, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
VarietyOwen GleibermanJan 26, 2025
Questlove confronts the life and legacy of Sly Stone, investigates it, holds it up to the light, tears it apart, and puts it back together like the bravura mixmaster he is. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comRobert DanielsJan 24, 2025
Melodically vital and bracingly frank, Questlove’s uptempo Sundance documentary “Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)” is a sonic kick to the soul. Read full review
80
ColliderRoss BonaimeJan 26, 2025
Considering how electric Stone’s work and life are, SLY LIVES! more than makes up for its standard documentary style through Stone’s gripping story, and Questlove’s exploration of the revolutionary music. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonJan 26, 2025
Thompson reveals his deep love for this musician by looking past the rock-doc cliches, searching for the soul of a man who put every ounce of it into his songs. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 26, 2025
You walk out of Sly Lives! feeling like you’ve genuinely learned something, but you also walk out exhilarated. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeJan 26, 2025
Questlove shapes an engaging narrative that charts Stone’s undulating career. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearJan 24, 2025
It’s a music doc that takes its music-doc responsibilities seriously. Read full review
75
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezFeb 6, 2025
‘Sly Lives!’: should we file it under good doc? Sure, it’s very watchable. But does it really unpack the burden of black genius? Well, that is a thing, to be honest. The culture moves on fast and the standards to which black artists are held are always way more ruthless and higher. I’m just not entirely convinced it lands this thesis as well as it hopes it does. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleChris VognarFeb 5, 2025
Sly Lives! may not provide definitive answers, but the fact that it even asks those questions puts it a cut above most films in its genre. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChris BarsantiFeb 3, 2025
Sly Lives! pays appropriate credit to its subject’s greatness by not devolving into pity even after depicting Stone at his lowest points. Read full review
60
The New York TimesWesley MorrisFeb 14, 2025
The movie gets lost in the gulf between standard, if illuminating, biography and roiling existential crisis. Read full review
58
IndieWireVikram MurthiJan 26, 2025
As much as Questlove probes his many interviewees with questions about the expectations and responsibility that comes with “Black genius,” his film doesn’t live up to the ambitious framework he puts forth. Read full review
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