Better Man, the biopic about British pop star Robbie Williams, has been absolutely delighting the critics. The film, in which the singer is portrayed as a CGI chimpanzee, currently holds a92% fresh scoreon Rotten Tomatoes based on 77 reviews. That’s significantly better than another big musical biopic released the same day,A Complete Unknown, which only has a 79% approval rating among critics.Better Manhas quickly become one of the most acclaimed music biopics of all time. Just compare it to the scores ofrecent music biopicslikeBohemian Rhapsody(60%),Rocketman(89%),Elvis(77%),Back to Black(35%), and many others, and it’s clear thatBetter Manis, well, better. It helps that it’s helmed by the director ofThe Greatest Showman.
If you’re unfamiliar with Robbie Williams, that’s surprising, but he’s most famous in the United Kingdom. After his time in the band Take That, he went on to become one of the biggest solo musicians in UK history. 13 of his 14 studio albums have reached #1 in the UK charts, and he’s garnered a record 18 Brit Awards. He was voted The Greatest Artist of the 1990s by the UK Music Hall of Fame, and broke a Guinness World Record for selling the most tickets in a single day (1.6 million). The plot synopsis forBetter Manreads as follows:
‘Better Man’ is based on the true story of the meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence of British pop superstar Robbie Williams, one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Under the visionary direction of Michael Gracey (‘The Greatest Showman’), the film is uniquely told from Robbie’s perspective, capturing his signature wit and indomitable spirit. It follows Robbie’s journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist - all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.
MovieWeb’s Julian Roman wrote inhis glowing review ofBetter Man, “British pop superstar Robbie Williams gets a raw, dazzling, long but exceedingly clever musical biopic inBetter Man, which sees him portrayed as a CGI, motion-captured chimpanzee from boyhood through tumultuous stardom. The reason why becomes obvious as the narrative progresses. Director/co-writer Michael Gracey infuses the film with a bold creative vision that adds a refreshing new take on a known commodity.” The review continues:
“Stories of rags-to-riches celebrities struggling with addiction and depression are standard Hollywood fodder. Better Man addresses those themes while Williams' narrates the painful truth behind glitz and glamour. Fame is a seductive narcotic that fuels our worst impulses. A dream come true can easily become a nightmare.”
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Clint Worthington ofRogerEbert.comwrites of the film, “It’s brash, in your face, and on the nose. But that’s Robbie Williams. Could a biopic of him play out any other way? C’mon. Let him entertain you.” Several other reviewers use the word “ridiculous” to describeBetter Man, including Amy Nicholson of theLos Angeles Times, who states, “If you could tear your eyes away from the screen enough to check a stopwatch, not one minute goes by without a flourish that’s either funny, ridiculous, stunning or emotional.”
Better Manis in limited theaters now, with a wider release scheduled for July 29, 2025. The film costars Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, and Kate Mulvany. Gracey co-wrote the script with Oliver Cole and Simon Gleeson.
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The Chimp Face Idea Came From Director Gracey
Why portray a superstar singer with a chimp’s face? According to director Gracey, he came up with the idea after several conversations with Williams. Hetold the BBC:
There have been a lot of musical biopics… I wanted to come at this with a different lens. Quite often Rob will say, ‘I’m just like a performing monkey’ or ‘I’m up the back like a performing monkey.’ It just sparked this idea of, we’ve got this chance to tell this story, not from the perspective of how we see Rob, but how he sees himself. And so I pitched the idea to Rob. I said, ‘You know, if you were to be an animal, how would you see yourself?’
Williams first responded that he was a lion, but with help from Gracey, he was able to see the man/monkey connections, and was delighted at the idea.
Better Man
Better Manis based on the true story of the meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence of British pop superstar Robbie Williams, one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Under the visionary direction of Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), the film is uniquely told from Williams’ perspective, capturing his signature wit and indomitable spirit. It follows Robbie’s journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist – all the while confronting the challenges that fame and success can bring.
