By Allie Pino ‘15

Hollywood has long embraced the story of the suffering superstar. You know the tale, don’t you? A talented but misunderstood singer or actor struggles with the downside of living in the spotlight. Often there is a parent trying to live his or her own dreams through the child’s adult career. There might even be a hero who will appear to protect the artist from the perils of fame and fortune. This narrative idea is explored in the film “Beyond the Lights.” Thanks to the clever direction of Gina Prince-Bythewood, however, the film shatters these clichés and turns into an unexpectedly electric and moving romantic drama.

Noni Jean (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is a hot new artist who just won a Billboard Music Award and is primed for super-stardom. Noni should be on top the world, but in reality she’s not in a good place. Being positioned as the object of male sexual desires in the media, dressed in close to nothing outfits and accessorized in a mountain of purple hair extensions is not what she envisioned her life to be.

In Mbatha-Raw’s capable hands, she’s a real, damaged human being navigating extraordinary circumstances over which she has little control. Many of those situations are because of Noni’s mother and manager, Macy Jean (Minnie Driver). No question, Macy Jean is plenty unlikeable in her cruelty, especially when turning a blind eye to her daughter’s clear discomfort at being told to remove her top during a photo shoot.

The pressures of success compel Noni to nearly end her life. Returning to her Hollywood hotel after the awards show, Noni climbs over the balcony banister, ready to jump. Her plan is foiled by the grace and good grip of LAPD officer Kaz Nicol (Nate Parker). “I see you,” Kaz says with the kind of empathy and emotion Noni’s life has been sorely lacking. Then he pulls her to safety. Where she goes from there is the driving storyline of the movie.

Drawn to each other, Noni and Kaz fall fast and hard in love, despite the protests of those around them who urge them to put their career ambitions ahead of their romance. But it is ultimately Kaz’s love that gives Noni the courage to find her own voice and break free to become the artist she was meant to be.

Director Prince-Bythewood does a nice job sketching both Noni and Kaz’s contrasting environments: her stifling affluence—with its many paparazzi and exploiters of all stripes—versus his modest blue-collar existence.

The script has a distinctly modern angle that smartly incorporates the current entertainment-industry climate, as well as the intersection of social media, tabloids and celebrity, which is rarely portrayed with the accuracy and insight it’s given here.

A star-crossed love story is only as good as its Romeo and Juliet. Both Noni and Kaz have a sweet, smoldering chemistry that’s a joy to witness. This is feel-good entertainment at heart that creates an element of wish fulfillment to how the duo’s romance plays out.