All Eyez on Me
Directed by Benny Boom
- history
- drama
- music
The story
All Eyez on Me chronicles the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom as a hip-hop artist, actor, poet and activist, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial time at Death Row Records. Against insurmountable odds, Tupac rose to become a cultural icon whose career and persona both continue to grow long after his passing.
What it’s like
Warm, saturated 1990s California in this biopic: sun-bleached Los Angeles streets, dusty Baltimore rowhouses, and the cold green-grey of prison corridors, with the palette shifting as Tupac's fortunes do. Camera work is mostly handheld and close, pressing into rehearsal rooms, studio booths and crowded backstage hallways, and the concert sequences lean on sweaty, kinetic energy and the glow of stage lights. Sound is the centre of gravity: the hip-hop beats are loud and physical, and the quieter scenes let a few spare piano notes and ambient street noise carry the emotion. The overall vibe is restless, charged and bittersweet, a film that feels like a long night of ambition, loyalty and mounting pressure. It moves in big, eventful strides, with a lonely, driven man trying to hold together family, friendship and fame while the industry feud around him grows harsher. Violence is present and does not look away from it: shootings and a fatal attack appear on screen, along with drug use, strong language and some sexual content, so it is not gentle. It suits late-night viewing for listeners who love 90s rap and grounded, music-driven biography, and for those who want a dramatic, emotionally heavy portrait of an artist.
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