Fresh from a second series of the critically-acclaimed Only Murders in the Building, singer-slash-actor Selena Gomez is now appearing in a “raw and intimate” documentary about being “pulled into darkness.”
Gomez, 30, revealed the film about her life on Instagram, and teased the flick with an opening shot of the credits on what looks like her own private home-cinema (nice) and captioned it: “Wanna hear a part to my story…My Mind & Me coming soon to @AppleTvPlus”
On 10 October, the full-length trailer for Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me was released. It opens with the actress and singer repeating positive affirmations to herself, as newsreaders list off the medical and mental health conditions that had left their mark on the former Disney star: lupus, depression, anxiety, a "mental breakdown". You can watch the whole thing below:
This is not a fluffy puff piece about the incredible life of a Hollywood star either. Not only is the director of the film Alek Keshishian – behind the controversial and genre-defining 1991 doc, Madonna: Truth or Dare – but Gomez reveals what goes on at the backstage of the glossy showbiz world, and the impact it's had on her mental health.
A press release for the series states: “After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.”
Gomez has been very open about her mental health struggles, and has said that she is bipolar. Speaking to Miley Cyrus on her Instagram Live series, Bright Minded, Gomez explained that illness had led her to check into a mental health facility: “Recently, I went to one of the best mental hospitals in America, McClean Hospital, and I discussed that after years of going through a lot of different things, I realised that I was bipolar. And so when I got to know more information, it actually helps me. It doesn’t scare me once I know it.”
She also spoke to Cyrus about suffering from anxiety and depression and added that the diagnosis left her “equal parts terrified and relieved — terrified because the veil was lifted but relieved that I finally had the knowledge of why I had suffered with various depressions and anxieties for so many years. I never had full awareness or answers about this condition.”
From being a Disney child-star to a multi-million record selling pop singer – as well as a celebrated actor, starring in Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers in 2013 – Gomez’ rise to fame has been beset by health worries. Just over 10 years ago, she was diagnosed with lupus, and in 2017, she received a kidney transplant from her best friend, Francia Raisa.
Hitting 100 million followers on Instagram also appeared to be a trigger point for Gomez, and after saying she "sort of freaked out", she has since taken regular breaks from social media.
When we asked director Alek Keshishian how Selena Gomez lured him out of pop documentary retirement for the project, he told us: "Well, Selena had captured a place in my heart [...] In 2019, after she came out of the mental facility, I saw her afterwards and I was filled with hope for her, and I had this great feeling of empathy. I was asked to go and shoot her in Kenya for a charity trip for their website and I said of course."
Watch Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me for free
Apple TV+ is still running its seven-day free trial to the service, so you can watch it for an unlimited amount of times for a whole week, if that’s your thing.
Additionally, if you’re due for an upgrade on an iPhone or any other Apple device – or have bought one in the last 90 days – you’ll get free Apple TV+ for three months. In this case, may we direct you to a couple of great music docs on the platform: Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry; Beastie Boys Story and Watch The Sound With Mark Ronson (the Autotune and Sampling eps are especially great, and with bonus Paul McCartney too).
One person who won’t be watching is Selena Gomez’s mother, Mandy Teefey. In a joint interview with her daughter on Jay Shetty’s 'On Purpose' podcast, Teefey said that the experience of watching her daughter suffer on screen would be too much.
"We went through that and found healing. We've moved past some of it, and even if it's something she went through, and I didn't know she went through it, as a mother, it's going to affect me," she told Shetty. "It's going to hurt my stomach and put me in that mindset. I'm going to wish I could go and protect her."
The documentary has been met with critical acclaim, with a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 19 reviews, and an audience score of 95% too. Speaking of the experience shooting with director Alek Keshishian, Gomez told Rolling Stone. “He really guided me […] But I had to detox, essentially, from the medications I was on. I had to learn how to remember certain words. I would forget where I was when we were talking. It took a lot of hard work for me to (a) accept that I was bipolar, but (b) learn how to deal with it because it wasn’t going to go away.”
