Something Beautiful

In the mesmerizing film 'Something Beautiful', Miley Cyrus embarks on an introspective and visually stunning exploration of life, identity, and the passage of time. As she navigates through her ninth studio album of the same name, Cyrus seamlessly weaves a collection of captivating shorts, music videos, and archival footage, immersing viewers in a world of surreal storytelling and breathtaking fashion. The film dawns on a jarring, disorienting scene of Miley Cyrus lost in a maze of mirrors, reflecting on herself from every angle, an amalgamation of childhood memories, and societal expectations. A surreal fusion of the grotesque and the enigmatic emanates from her multiple personas as they converge on two distinct narratives: the passage of time, as it disrupts her chronology with 'On the Ground', or the internal quest for self-discovery and liberation, such as seen in 'Flowers'. We see 'Maybe You Should Be Here', Cyrus singing in a sun-drenched field, surrounded by lush vegetation and vintage ephemera, she evokes an unfaltering longing for love. By mirroring the emotional expanse in scenes where beauty is fragmented, nostalgia unfolds in 'Since You've Been Gone - 'If This Creek is Haunted', she channels shattered and melancholic reveries. Her enigmatic images keep us distracted, while simultaneously revealing pain. 'Wonder Woman', for instance, strips the narrative to a dystopian backdrop where archaic echoes and futuristic dreams overlap on the runway with 'River'. In this eerie and captivating world, themes of feminism and female liberation rise to the forefront. The disintegration of multiple realities heightens a theme that has largely been Cyrus’ focus in recent work: empowerment. As 'You', Cyrus becomes entangled in a disorienting series of episodes in which nature and the human experience collide, leading the viewer to question what exactly constitutes our external reality. Her dynamic persona encapsulates an endless sea of beauty and raw emotion. The cinematic expedition finally crescendos in an incredible climax of emotion, incorporating pieces from 'You', that embodies what it means to be your authentic self in 'Killing The Pain Mix'. The blending of fragmented sounds dissolves into incoherence and leaves only an impression of the ebb and flow of one person experiencing existence. As the credits roll, we're met with images of Miley Cyrus returning to her mirrored surroundings but now without any shards, shattering away and floating free from their prison. And that is perhaps where the narrative of 'Something Beautiful' truly succeeds.