Amplify Her is not just a film; it’s also a comic book and an animated motion comic series. This multiplicity is seamlessly woven into the fabric of the film, transitioning between animated sequences and documentary-style storytelling. At its core, it delves into the lives of seven female musicians, navigating the challenging terrain of a male-dominated world of electronic music.
Centered around three DJs—Blondtron (Samantha Matthews), AppleCat (Mya Hardman), and Lux Moderna (Madeline Fauss)—the film tries to explore the relationship between gender and art, albeit focusing primarily on the experiences of DJs. It sometimes confronts questions about feminism, offering an examination of how DJs perceive their gender in the context of their craft.
The movie opens with a high-energy sequence featuring quotes from female musicians, immediately setting the tone for the exploration of empowerment and creativity. The opening scenes vividly introduce DJ Yala, expressing a desire not to be pigeonholed as a woman motivating others but rather to be recognized for her musical prowess.
As the film progresses, it skillfully weaves animations into the narrative, shedding light on the DJs’ early experiences and nerves before performances. Applecat’s journey is particularly personal, with animated tales breathing life into the stories she shares about the challenges she faced since her childhood. Blondtron brings optimism to the forefront. She envisions a future with more empowered women taking leadership roles, catalyzing a shift in conversations and the dynamics of the music industry. She takes a bold stance on body image and self-expression, using her platform not for validation but as a soapbox to provoke discussion and critique. The notion of creating music as a means to forget discrimination and pain resonates deeply, emphasizing the therapeutic and transformative power of music.
While Amplify Her offers an exploration of gender dynamics within the electronic music industry, its impact is somewhat diluted by a lack of a clear narrative structure. The seamless blend of animation and documentary elements occasionally sidetracks into biographical information that moves away from the film’s seemingly central theme of the connection between gender and music. This diversion into personal histories may, at times, disrupt the flow and focus of the overarching narrative. Despite this, the film still manages to amplify the voices of its talented artists, sparking conversations about gender and the evolving nature of the artistic landscape.
