"The Show" (2021 release; 94 min.) is a new documentary about what it takes to stage a Super Bowl halftime show. As the movie opens, The Weeknd is two minutes away from coming on stage for this year's Super Bowl halftime show in Tampa, FL. We then go back in time to "20 Days To The Show", as we are introduced to various members of the team that is responsible for putting this tightly coordinated 13 min show together: there is of course The Weeknd himself, as we see him rehearse with his backup band, but there are many, many others as well, including the set designer, the choreographer, and on and on... At this point we are 10 min into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this documentary is directed by Nadia Hallgren, who just last year brought us the Michelle Obama documentary "Becoming". Here Hallgren and the film crew are given unfettered access to all aspects of what it takes to stage what amounts to a 13 min mini-Broadway show that will be viewed by over 100 million viewers just in the US alone. Two aspects made this year's halftime show even more complex than otherwise would be the case already: first, there is this little thing called COVID-19 that was raging through the country in the winter of 2020-2 (and sadly, still is now 7+ months later). It is noticeable and commendable that literally every person we see in the documentary is masking (wearing N-95 masks), while at the same time we know that Florida Gov. DeSantis is doing all he can to discourage and prohibit masking by all means possible, all in the name of "personal freedom", never mind that this is a public health emergency that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, and counting. The second challenge is that The Weeknd and his team is told that there cannot be a set on the playing field itself. Let's be real: this halftime show is far more complex than, say, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band putting on a 13 min live set. Springsteen doesn't need an elaborate set to perform. For The Weeknd, it's all about the production set. Thankfully, this documentary sticks to the challenges of pulling it off, rather than, say, focus on The Weeknd's music. In the end, this documentary gives a nice insight on it all and confirms, to the extent any proof was still needed, that it truly takes an army of people to stage a Super Bowl halftime show.
"The Show" premiered this weekend on Showtime and is now available on SHO On Demand, Amazon Instant Video and other streaming platforms. If you are curious about the technical challenges of putting on a Super Bowl halftime show (as opposed to focusing on the music), I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
