Singer suffers medical crises in film about illness, career.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
a lot
Dion suffers two medical crises in the film, one in more detail than the other. In both, medical personnel come to her assistance as she lies paralyzed on the floor or a table. She cries often as she discusses her illness and what it has meant to her life and career. In recounting her life, she also talks about her family experiencing poverty when she was a child and sometimes not having enough to eat. Dion brags about wearing shoes several sizes too small or big for her feet, even if it meant her toes were curled.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
All Dion products, some media outlets, clothing brands, musical instruments.
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
a little
Dion discusses medicines she's had to take, and we see her taking pills and being given medication. She makes a joke about people with raspy voices who've smoked and drunk alcohol.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.
When things get hard, keep trying. Don't give up. Rely on others -- if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.
Positive Role Models
some
Dion faces a debilitating illness that has cut short her singing career. She is single parenting three boys since her husband died. She admits to having lied to the public in the past to hide her condition. Her medical and personal team comes to her assistance and supports her in times of crisis and not. She demonstrates courage in allowing these devastating images to be filmed and included in the documentary.
Diverse Representations
very little
Dion is French-Canadian and toggles back and forth between English and French.
Parents need to know that the world-famous singer suffers actual medical crises on camera in I Am: Celine Dion in scenes that are both frightening and difficult to watch. In both, medical personnel come to her assistance as she lies paralyzed on the floor or a table. She cries often as she discusses her illness and what it has meant to her life and career. In recounting her past, she also talks about her family experiencing poverty when she was a child and sometimes not having enough to eat. Toggling back and forth between English and French, she discusses her illness, and she reveals the medications she's had to take as well as the lies she's told the public in the past before revealing her diagnosis. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
Worth to watch if you want to teach resilience, hope and commitment. One intense scene, but not terrible.
We watched this documentary after the Paris 2024 Olympic opening ceremony, where Celine Dion just reappeared after her time off with her health struggles. My daughters are a bit more mature than their peers. (11 and 14). The documentary is an extraordinary example of a celebrity from that caliber, showing her vulnerability and total humanity during health struggles. I think the message from this documentary is really inspiring and lifting, but yes, there is a scene in which you see Celine having a seizure and it is absolutely painful see her getting paralyzed. So real, no acting. We were crying during the scene, but she is not alone, she is surrounded by amazing health professionals who never leaver her alone and know how to treat the condition. She gets better after some minutes of tension. (I think we see more violence and gory images in any other PG rated movie). This documentary shows Celine as an open book, without makeup, in rehab, crying, just raw real life but also brings moments of her childhood clips of her best moments on stage. We liked much the documentary and because we love her so much, we think the documentary is gold for those who are not afraid to teach resilience, hope and commitment in children and youth.
What's the Story?
International superstar Celine Dion stepped away from the stage in 2023, announcing that she suffered from a rare neurological disorder called Stiff-Person Syndrome (SPS). I AM: CELINE DION lets the singer explain that difficult decision and shows the effects of SPS in visual detail. Dion welcomes the camera into her home as she goes through physical therapy and lives daily life with her sons. She doesn't leave the house often, and she isn't able to perform. It's unclear whether she will ever sing again, a reality she confronts in interviews and at painful recording sessions.
There's no denying that what Celine Dion is going through is terribly taxing, and this documentary explains in spades why she's disappeared from the international spotlight. It's quite difficult to watch the singer spasming into near paralysis -- I Am: Celine Dion begins with a viewer-discretion advisory about "powerful scenes of medical trauma." There are two shocking scenes of this, and there's much discussion online about the decision to film through the crises and include them in the documentary. Throughout the film, Dion appears make-up free, tired, and weepy. The exception is when she needs to record cheerful greetings for others or she's spending snippets of time with her sons. A melancholy score is woven throughout.
Around the 20-minute mark, Dion takes the cameras on a tour of a warehouse full of couture clothing and designer shoes and other memorabilia, and she brags about fitting her feet into shoes that didn't fit. Home video footage is spliced in soon after showing a very pregnant Dion complaining in front of a closet with seemingly hundreds of shoes that she doesn't have the right pair to wear. It's just one example of where the editing allows for a subtle critique of its subject, intentionally or not. It's hard to deny Dion's privilege or the fact that she has enjoyed more success and lived a fuller life than most. This isn't the film or the moment for gratitude or celebration of what has been. Yet surely her family and fans want to see her well, with or without future concerts.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the impact of seeing Dion suffer spasms and temporary paralysis in I Am: Celine Dion. What do you think about the decision to include these crises in the film? Would the film have had a different impact on you if they had not been included?
What is Stiff-Person Syndrome (SPS)? Where can you go for more information?
Did you feel you got to know Dion better in this film? Why or why not? Did your opinion of her change in any way? How so?
MPAA explanation:
thematic material and brief smoking images
Last updated:
June 26, 2024
Inclusion information powered by
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
