Demi Lovato’s “Child Star” offers a stark, unflinching look at the toll early fame can take on young performers, but it isn’t as hard-hitting as it could have been.
The documentary succeeds in gathering an impressive roster of former child stars, including Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci, and Kenan Thompson, to tell their personal stories of navigating fame at a young age.
The film’s emotional core lies in these candid interviews, where the actors speak openly about the mental health struggles, identity crises, and personal battles they faced during and after their time in the spotlight. The vulnerability on display is its greatest asset, giving viewers an intimate glimpse into the complex realities behind the public personas.
But “Child Star” stops short of delivering a full critique of the entertainment industry’s systemic exploitation of child actors.
While the film touches on the challenges of growing up in Hollywood, it barely scratches the surface of the structural issues that have allowed these harmful patterns to persist for decades.
Topics like exploitative contracts, inadequate mental health support, and the industry’s fixation on youth are mentioned in passing but are not explored in any meaningful depth.
This lack of focus on the industry’s larger role leaves the viewer with little more than a collection of personal anecdotes, missing a critical opportunity to advocate for change.
Additionally, the pacing of the documentary can feel uneven, jumping between emotional moments without a clear throughline.
Lovato’s direction leans heavily on nostalgia, which, while effective at evoking sympathy, often overshadows a more rigorous investigation into the lasting harm caused by Hollywood’s treatment of its youngest stars.
By relying too much on the emotional weight of individual stories, Child Star misses the chance to be a more pointed, urgent call for reform within the industry.
While “Child Star” succeeds in humanizing the former child actors who suffered under the weight of fame, it falls short of delivering the hard-hitting critique necessary to push for real, systemic change.
