Britney Vs Spears review: A lonely princess in her hellish castle

A glammed up, post teen Britney Spears turns around with mischief in her eyes—teasing the crowd; a classic popstar move—while a sold-out stadium chants her name in unison: ‘Britney! Britney! Britney!’ before the fireworks, and of course, her killer moves take over. Turning back in time, to those early 2000s, through Erin Lee Carr’s introductory montage to ‘Britney Vs. Spears’, was one calculated gesture that guaranteed goosebumps. For Britney fans, and for those who couldn’t see her meteoric rise in the music world.

Carr’s motive in this 93-minute-long documentary is loud and clear: cut through the chase and address the elephant in the room—Jamie Spears and his systematic web of callousness and control, allegedly. Of late, reports of this Netflix offering being an exposé of sorts have been keeping the rumourville buzzing. Truth be told: barring a few customary Wikipedia-ish entries at the beginning, Carr does provide an insight into the shockingly lonely world of the biggest pop star America has ever produced. Each claim, outrageous. Each speaker substantiating that claim, appalled.

‘Britney Vs. Spears’ is essentially a passion project of two women who care deeply about Britney and the patriarchal hangover that has seemingly crippled most of her adult life. Lovers, lawyers, friends who helped, friends who couldn’t... everyone's jumpedin to tell their version of what has been a regular occurrence inside the twisted world of Jamie Spears and the famous daughter he has been ripping off of millions; again, allegedly. And, some of the details are heartbreaking—like that one time Britney had to seek permission to buy toys for her kids, her monthly allowance of 8000 USD despite the forced-upon world tours and concerts, and a simple 30-minute drive being labelled as ‘buying independence’. There are questions, and then there are counter questions. Statements like “I didn’t do it,” or “show me a public document with my signature on it” were thrown in every five seconds.

Sure, ‘Britney Vs. Spears’ is combative, but not unswayed.

Call it youthful exuberance or the trauma that we now know she had endured atthe hands of her folks, Britney did have her fair share of episodes and reported spats. Most of it is not shown in the documentary (the ‘head shave’ is missing, too), including the recent accusation by her staffers, however untrue.

Having said that, Carr and a certain journalist from a musically inclined magazine do unearth damning evidence against the outgoing conservator—hopefully—and just for that, kudos!

To perform 248 shows a year—adding some more to the calendar, not by choice, of course!—one has to be pretty incredible at what they do. But, then again, Britney Spears is no ordinary girl. While watching this slightly tainted yet audacious documentary—with strong feminist undertones—a famous quote by Jim Carrey comesto mind, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.” This real-life saga is a classic instance of that belief.

'Britney Vs. Spears' is now streaming on Netflix.