“Juice WRLD: Into the Abyss” opens with three and a half minutes of Juice WRLD, the rapper born as Jarad A. Higgins, freestyled in one take. Not long after, the film has him doing the same on a radio show. The most exciting moments in this documentary, directed by Tommy Oliver, showcase the artist’s ability to rap ‘off the top of the dome’, as singer and rapper iLoveMakonnen puts it.
But a large part of the film does not consist of blistering to-camera improvisation, but of loosely structured backstage images. Juice WRLD died of an accidental overdose at the age of 21 in late 2019, and an argument has to be made that anything with him on camera has value. Still, ‘Into the Abyss’, which mixes material from Juice WRLD’s tour stops with interviews and hangouts and the inclusion of vignettes, isn’t particularly focused. At one point, Juice WRLD and the rapper Ski Mask the Slump God engage in a toy fight with lightsabers.
The film depicts the subject in a TV appearance that talks candidly about anxiety and depression. “Whether he knew it or not, Juice was a therapist for millions of children,” music producer Benny Blanco said at the end.
But “Into the Abyss” contains enough on-screen pills to raise uncomfortable questions about documentary ethics. In retrospect, certain lyrics (“I pray to God for some water to wash these Percs down,” Juice sings WRLD in a previously unreleased song in the film) inevitably sound like warnings.
Juice WRLD: Into the Abyss
Not judged. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes. Check out HBO platforms.