Here we are again, trying to destigmatize Monday with another installment of Review Stew! This week we take a look at one of the most infamous musical groups of all-time. Even if you don’t know their music, there’s a very good chance you know the name Milli Vanilli. Well, lets take a look at their story with… Girl You Know It’s True (2023).
Title: Girl You Know It’s True
Director: Simon Verhoeven
Released: December 6, 2023 (Austria)
Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes
Watched via: Peacock
Rob (Tijan Njie) and Fab (Elan Ben Ali) are both unknown aspiring dancers. They’re working as podium dancers when they’re “discovered” by Ingrid “Milli” Segieth (Bella Dayne) who arranges a meeting between them and producer Frank Farian (Matthias Schweighöfer).
Frank decides that Rob and Fab are the perfect fit for his new project. But before they can begin, they need a name. Well, if we’re to believe the film, Milli discovered them and during the name choosing conversation they were eating vanilla ice cream. Put two and two together and that’s how we got the name Milli Vanilli.
True to his word, Frank makes Milli Vanilli overnight sensations. However, things aren’t exactly what they seem.
Rob and Fab have no creative control over their sound. Why you ask? Well, mainly because they aren’t the ones writing or singing the songs. Yep, that’s right. Frank takes obscure songs already in existence and has musicians who are talented but not marketable re-do the vocals. This is where Rob and Fab come in, they are the face of the project. Both are already good looking and able to dance, all that’s left is to learn to lip-sync to the tracks while dancing on stage.
Everyone involved in Milli Vanilli stands to make an absolute fortune. But as we all know, technology isn’t perfect.
So what happens if a track skips while Rob and Fab are out there performing?
Well, you could always blame it on the rain…
Having already watched the Paramount+ 2023 documentary Milli Vanilli, I wasn’t sure why we needed Girl You Know It’s True (2023). The documentary did such a solid job of telling their story, I wasn’t sure what a biopic could add. Well, turns out that it can add a lot of humanity to their story.
Tijan Njie and Elan Ben Ali are both phenomenal as Rob and Fab. The chemistry that they have together is a large part of why this movie works. Their fourth wall breaking narration helps you connect to them as people rather than superstars chasing fortune and fame. Allowing them to break the fourth wall as a way to tell the story was a great choice by Verhoeven. In doing so, he’s able to inject some comedy into what is ultimately a bit of a bleak story.
Usually when you have a movie coming in at over two hours long, you’re thinking of ways it could have been shorter. That is not the case here at all. If anything, I would’ve liked to have seen even more.
Whether you’re a fan of music biopics, the group Milli Vanilli, or are just curious what the hype with them was all about, definitely check out Girl You Know It’s True (2023).
So, if you have seen Girl You Know It’s True (2023), what did you think of it?
Tell me in the comments below or by reaching out on Bluesky!
As always, you can follow me over on Letterboxd to keep up with everything else that I’ve been watching lately.