If current chaos has you nostalgic for the eight Obama years in the White House, Netflix is coming to your rescue. The streaming service is releasing an original documentary on May 6th about the former first lady, titled Becoming after her memoir. The documentary gives an intimate look at Obama as she conducts her book tour across 34 cities. Part of that intimacy was born out of the technical difficulty of filming a person flanked by staff and Secret Service at all times.
Nadia Hallgren directed the film, which Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian described as “sympathetic and respectful.” Hallgren took the challenge of filming with such constraints as an opportunity, forming a close relationship with Michelle to portray her life as it is now, after her time in the White House. In a teaser released by Netflix, Michelle tells a group of young women that she’s not trying to get her life back on track after the “interruption” of being First Lady. Rather, she says, “It’s a whole new track. You know, it’s not going back, it’s all just different, and it’s different forever.”
In the scene, she’s speaking with a group of young black women in Philadelphia, something she’s hoping the book tour will give her more of an opportunity to do, “I crave some longer experiences with young people,” she says. The film is a surprise release by Netflix, who signed a production deal with the Obamas in 2019. It’s the second film born from the partnership after the couple executive produced the documentary American Factory. In a released conversation with the filmmakers, the Obamas talk about how they believe in storytelling as a method to break down barriers between people. Their next project in a lineup of releases is Bloom, a drama set in the post-war New York fashion world.
Becoming will no doubt give a more personal look at Michelle Obama’s life and shed light on the story of what roles the Obamas will take on in their lives post-politics. Her memoir of the same title became an immediate bestseller with over 10 million copies sold worldwide. Michelle Obama was popular during her time in the White House, which she spent advocating for service members, education for international adolescent girls, and taking on the issue of childhood obesity with her Let’s Move! Initiative. The past two years, she’s earned the rank of the most admired woman in America through a Gallup Poll.
Presumptive presidential candidate and former Vice President, Joe Biden, was recently asked about Michelle Obama’s viability to join him as his running mate on the Democratic ticket. “She’s brilliant. She knows the way around. She is a really fine woman,” he commented, before going on to say he’d pick her “in a heartbeat.”