It’s hard to remember when Olivia Rodrigo wasn’t a household name, winning countless awards and beating out A-List superstars.
On a tour of the west coast desert and mountains of Utah on grainy film, we are brought “Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U” on Disney+. This film is Rodrigo’s musical documentary that takes viewers through her rise to fame and the making of her hit debut album, “SOUR,” all while giving us live performances and new renditions of the songs we’ve grown to love.
“Driving Home 2 U” was released on Disney+ on March 25.
Photo courtesy of Disney+
Rodrigo also dives deeper into the explanation of why the album was created.
As most pop culture vultures know, Rodrigo and her co-star, Joshua Bassett, dated and had a nasty breakup. He then allegedly quickly moved on to fellow Disney Channel starlet, Sabrina Carpenter, also known as “that blonde girl.”
All three stars have made music about the situation following Rodrigo’s debut single “Drivers License,” a worldwide phenomenon.
“Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U” is Rodrigo’s musical documentary that takes viewers through her rise to fame and the making of her hit debut album.
Photo courtesy of Disney+
Rodrigo explains the album wasn’t to profit off drama or to poison Bassett’s new relationship but to make her feel less lonely while at her heart’s rock bottom. In fact, these songs were written before her world-renowned fame, and she never expected “Drivers License” to reach the heights it did.
We also get a sneak peek at an unreleased song with critically acclaimed producer Dan Nigro, who has worked with stars like Taylor Swift and Conan Gray, where Rodrigo cringes at how sad she used to be.
Rodrigo’s commentary is perfectly accompanied by exciting live performances and footage of her road trip throughout. The aesthetic is much more pleasing than someone just filming a tour bus or footage from a recording studio like previous artists’ documentaries.
Rodrigo’s commentary is perfectly accompanied by exciting live performances and footage of her road trip throughout.
Photo courtesy of Disney+
While the documentary is not just Rodrigo filming her thoughts and recording the album with her phone, it is still just as personal. Rodrigo and her team do a great job of creating an aesthetic, professional documentary and performances that still capture the personal aspect of the songs.
What makes everything even more perfect is the fact that the documentary comes right before Rodrigo embarks on her world tour for “SOUR.” It’s a perfect way to integrate the album back into pop culture and allow viewers to see something new and innovative about an album they’ve been listening to for almost a year. Each song performed incorporates something new for fans who have the originals memorized perfectly.
Fans see how unplanned and authentic the making of the album was. An example is the creation of “Brutal” right before finalizing the tracklist. It’s spontaneous and fun just like the song itself.
Another personal favorite performance of mine is Rodrigo’s angsty “Good 4 U” accompanied by a string orchestra in the middle of a desert at sunset. If us Rodrigo fans aren’t given an album with the live performances from the film, I’m going to take matters into my own hands and write my own album out of sadness and despair.
In all, if you love the album “SOUR,” you’ll love the documentary that comes along with it. It’s fun to see how our favorite music comes about and how it is all pieced together.
Rodrigo and her team do a great job of creating an aesthetic, professional documentary.
Photo courtesy of Disney+
We know Rodrigo is no one-hit-wonder and is a pop-star staple who will stay for years to come. This documentary just made me even more excited for her to release a smash hit once again.
