7 Best Moments of ‘Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé’

Always the queen of surprises, Beyoncé treated fans to a surprise song during the end credits of the Renaissance documentary, which she then released on streaming. Titled “My House,” the new track is a mind-bending mixture of dirty South hip-hop, house and rock. While it’s still unclear if “My House” is teasing a Renaissance live album, a deluxe edition, Act II, or something entirely different, the song is still an instant banger and the perfect encapsulation of the Queen’s new “no f–ks given” attitude.

For a while, the story of Destiny’s Child was kind of messy. The clunky departure of LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson coupled with Farrah Franklin’s brief stint with the group makes for a couple of awkward chapters in the Grammy-winning act’s history. After years of growth and healing, however, all former Destiny’s Child members — bar Franklin, but who’s counting! — briefly reunited in Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.

We didn’t get to hear anything that the ladies discussed, but even just a few seconds of them sharing warm embraces expressed the overarching sense of healing that permeated the film. Given the fact that each of those five members attended the film’s Los Angeles premiere, it’s safe to say that whatever was said in those conversations had a lasting and meaningful impact on each of them.

Beyoncé is a very private pop star, so any chance fans get to peek behind the veil is cherished. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé finds the music icon arguably the most revelatory she’s been in over a decade.

We watch her open up about motherhood on the road — one thing about Rumi, she’ll be glued to her mother’s side backstage at every show! — and how she’s applying what she’s learned from watching the ways her own mother would protect her and her sister Solange. Queen Bey also gets vulnerable about her late Uncle Johnny, offering up dear memories of dancing around to house music with him and even wearing the famous prom dress he made her over two decades later.

Of course, Beyoncé doesn’t completely remove the wall between her and fans — we don’t get any mention of the long-awaited visuals or the two remaining acts, nor do we get explanations regarding the sporadic appearance of The Big 3 (“Thique,” “All Up in Your Mind” and “Drunk in Love”) — but she does touch on two previous injuries that shaped the Renaissance tour. Between a 15-year-old knee surgery that required surgery and rehab months before the first show and a childhood vocal hemorrhage that resulted in the growl that anchors most of the show’s opening ballad section, Beyoncé’s relationship with her body and the concept of time is a large chunk of the film.

If there was any reminder that true healing and growth aren’t linear processes, it’s Beyoncé’s energy in this documentary. She’s wiser, even more centered and self-assured, and genuinely serene. After all, as she correctly proclaims, “I have nothing to prove to anyone at this point.”

Nothing about Renaissance would be possible without the Black queer folk who pioneered the dance music and ballroom scenes that inspired both the album and tour. Obviously, the promotional run for the album was relatively sparse, so it was truly a gift to hear ballroom legends such as Kevin Jz Prodigy explain how they got involved with Beyoncé’s now-iconic project. Footage of Kevin delivering his booming trademark emcee quips washed over the theater like a tidal wave, reminding audiences just how much power a single voice can hold. 

It was also beautiful watching backup dancers Carlos Basquiat, Honey Balenciaga, Jonte’ Moaning and Darius Hickman wax poetic about the impact the tour has had on them and how they access and showcase the multitudes of their respective selves on stage each night. Perhaps more than any of her previous tours, the choreography and dancers utilized on the Renaissance World Tour embodied a new level of freedom and self-expression for both Beyoncé and the audience. Getting to hear from some of the key players in those lanes — including dance captain Amari Marshall — is the stuff proper concert documentaries are made of.

We all know and love the gold Loewe bodysuit, the Mugler bee costume and the queen’s seemingly endless rotation of jaw-dropping evening gowns, but the Renaissance documentary delved even further into the power of fashion.

Pitch-perfect editing spliced together several costumes per tour segment, with outfits and hairstyles changing at the drop of a beat; golds fade into reds and cowboy hats morph into club kid-styled dad hats. Beyoncé even pointed out why she dressed her tour crew in reflective tracksuits — her goal was to highlight their choreography and contributions to the show’s success. 

Of course, Renaissance is nothing without the fans that helped make its tour one of the biggest of all time. Sweeping overhead shots of countless sold-out crowds and time-lapse videos doused the theater in piles of sequins, glitter, fringe, and — to no one’s surprise and everyone’s delight — lots and lots of silver and chrome.

There’s also a montage tracing the impact fashion has had on the Knowles family, with Ms. Tina Knowles recalling memories of her seamstress mother and the family’s beloved Uncle Johnny, who Beyoncé sings of on “Heated” and has since become one of the brightest symbols of the Renaissance era.

One of the most devastating elements of being a consumer of music and culture in the last decade was bearing witness to the unforgivable bullying Blue Ivy Carter was subjected to by adults from the day she was born.

Just as she did on the tour, Blue blossoms into a star in her own right in the Renaissance documentary. Her cheeky commentary — “Mom, you’re wasting our time on fingers!” — brought tons of comic relief to the nearly three-hour film, and clips of her playing big sister to younger siblings Rumi and Sir Carter were nothing short of adorable.

Nothing, however, could match the absolute honor it was to watch Beyoncé’s eldest daughter grow as a person and performer. Her cameo during “My Power” and “Black Parade” — two empowering songs steeped in the act of reclaiming and controlling your narrative — was originally set to be a one-time thing, with Beyoncé initially being against Blue performing at all because she thought it would be inappropriate. Through weeks and weeks of rehearsals and training, Blue eventually got her mom to agree to one show. She then used negative online comments about that performance — which the 11-year-old shouldn’t have had to see anyway — to fuel future rehearsals, ultimately performing at nearly every following tour date and growing her own fanbase (shoutout to the Ivy League!) along the way.

The flip side of Beyoncé lifting the curtain is a peek into what it takes to put on a show as sprawling and ambitious as the Renaissance World Tour. From two life-size inflatable horses and a conveyor belt stage to robot arms and a giant moving tank, the myriad props and set pieces for the tour — in addition to its massive stage and hand-assembled screen — Beyoncé spared no expense in putting this show together. In the film, she notes that the most expensive part of production was the abundance of steel used to hold up the stage.

We get to see Beyoncé in full boss mode, clocking those who subliminally downplay her intelligence and try to give her the runaround when she’s stressing her requests and notes. We also see the “Cuff It” singer flip through a binder that houses myriad drafts of the stage design, direct her self-assembled girl group of backing vocalists (Pure Honey), and work intimately and diligently with the lighting team to ensure a show that’s as immersive as possible at every level.

The best part of all of this behind-the-scenes footage is watching a master of her craft at work. Beyoncé truly has her hand in every pot when it comes to her art, and she’s not afraid to show her snappier moments when it comes to delivering the best product possible for fans. After all, as she says in the film, Beyoncé knows what it takes to get to a concert and how it feels to see your idols, and she’s just trying to respect that for her fans and this generation of music listeners.