Common Sense Media Review
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Singer suffers medical crises in film about illness, career.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
I Am: Celine Dion
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.
Is It Any Good?
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?
In what ways does Dion show courage in this film?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : June 25, 2024
- Cast : Céline Dion
- Director : Irene Taylor
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Prime Video
- Genre : Documentary
- Topics : Arts ( Music and Sing-Along )
- Character Strengths : Courage
- Run time : 102 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : thematic material and brief smoking images
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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