Billy Idol Should Be Dead

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Billy Idol Should Be Dead

2025,

1h 58m,

Biography/

Documentary/

Music

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8 Reviews

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Popcornmeter

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8 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Rock icon Billy Idol bares it all in this electrifying documentary. Through never-before-seen archival and personal interviews with Idol, his family, peers and collaborators, the documentary digs deep into his emergence as a prototypical punk rocker, his meteoric rise as a global superstar in the MTC era, and the myriad of challenges Idol had to overcome to not just survive, but to remain on of the most beloved figures in rock n roll, almost fifty years into his career.

Johnny Loftus

Decider

Apr 7, 2026

Billy Idol Should be Dead is a walk through decades of rock history that benefits hugely from interviews with the man himself. Billy Idol is funny and charming to a fault in this documentary, even when describing his deepest, darkest moments.

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Pat Stacey

Irish Independent

Mar 24, 2026

4/5

That [Billy Idol is] alive and well and the subject of musician/director Jonas Åkerlund’s fantastically entertaining and sometimes quietly moving two-hour documentary is a reason to be happy.

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Emma Vine

Loud and Clear Reviews

Mar 2, 2026

3.5/5

Billy Idol Should Be Dead offers a detailed look at the singer’s rise to fame and why he remains an icon in the punk rock scene.

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Sherin Nicole

AWFJ.org

Nov 3, 2025

From gorgeously crisp interviews—in rich black and glowing white—to lush but cheeky animated sequences that play out like fever dreams, weaving...its portrait of a man who’s danced with death too many times, yet emerged not just alive but truly living.

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Carla Hay

Culture Mix

Oct 28, 2025

As a documentary, Billy Idol Should Be Dead is essentially a cinematic update of Billy Idol's 2014 memoir, with some added perspectives and a few new revelations. It's meaningful in some areas and shallow in other areas.

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Mike McGranaghan

Aisle Seat

Oct 4, 2025

A fascinatingly full portrait of an ‘80s musical giant.

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Jonas Akerlund

Director

Billy Idol

Self

Mark Monroe

Producer

Laurence Freedman

Producer

Jonas Akerlund

Producer

Violaine Etienne

Producer

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Synopsis

Rock icon Billy Idol bares it all in this electrifying documentary. Through never-before-seen archival and personal interviews with Idol, his family, peers and collaborators, the documentary digs deep into his emergence as a prototypical punk rocker, his meteoric rise as a global superstar in the MTC era, and the myriad of challenges Idol had to overcome to not just survive, but to remain on of the most beloved figures in rock n roll, almost fifty years into his career.

Director: Jonas Akerlund
Producer: Mark Monroe, Laurence Freedman, Jonas Akerlund, Violaine Etienne, Orian Williams, Ryan Kroft, Jessica James Batista, China Chow
Distributor: Fremantle
Production Co: Serial Pictures
Genre: Biography, Documentary, Music
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 24, 2025, Limited
Runtime: 1h 58m

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