Helmed by two-time Emmy-winning director of Elton John: Never Too Late and Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, R.J. Cutler, “Martha” is a documentary centering on American businesswoman, media personality, and self-made billionaire Martha Stewart. The documentary features an in-depth interview with Stewart with the addition of voices of many of the most significant people from all different stages of her life.
Martha world premiered earlier this year at the 51st Telluride Film Festival and recently opened the 32nd New Hamptons Film Festival.
Release Date
Directed by R.J. Cutler, Martha streams on Netflix on October 30, 2024.
Synopsis
This definitive documentary on Martha Stewart pulls back the curtain on one of America’s greatest self-made icons, from her start as a teenage model, her stint as a Wall Street stockbroker, and her eventual reign as the grand dame of entertaining and good taste.
Directed by R.J. Cutler, Martha draws on hundreds of hours of intimate interviews with Stewart and those from her inner circle, along with Stewart’s private archives of diaries, letters, and never-seen-before footage. The film illuminates Stewart’s upbringing in a working-class family, compels us to reconsider the scandal that sent her to prison, and heralds her post-prison reinvention as the original influencer who’s still captivating new generations of fans.
“People don’t quite understand just how much of a visionary Martha was and continues to be. She understood synergy long before others did; she understood the lack or barriers between different kinds of content before others did; she understood the power of the personal brand before others did,” says director R.J. Cutler from Netflix. “She made the world a more beautiful place, and she gave us greater access to beauty. She democratized fashion, taste, and style. She saw the future before others saw it and she always had to overcome enormous obstacles that were in her way. Most of the people who put those obstacles in her way were men who refused to see what she was able to see and who made it harder for others to see because she was a woman. And she overcame those obstacles with extraordinary success.”
Reviews
Daniel Fienberg in a Hollywood Reporter review praised the documentary, writing, “A very, very straightforward and linear documentary in which the actual revelations are limited more by your awareness than anything else. In lieu of revelations, though, what keeps Martha engaging is watching Cutler thrust and parry with his subject.”
Kate Erbland in an IndieWire review also praised the documentary, writing, “Cutler’s film begins to peter out in its final moments (the forging of Stewart’s highly unexpected bond with Snoop Dogg could foster its own film), but the trip there is certainly fascinating. It’s a good thing.”
Official Trailer
Watch the official trailer for Martha.