The Beach Boys (film)

Synopsis

The documentary traces the band's journey from their family origins to becoming a major force in pop music. It covers the formation by brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine, and their early creation of a sound tied to the California dream. The film examines the making of Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson's creative vision, and the band's rivalry with the Beatles, as well as Capitol Records' reluctance to promote the album in North America.

Brian Wilson's attempt to follow up with Smile is shelved due to his fear it would not be understood. The documentary distinguishes between the recording group led by Brian Wilson and the touring group. It includes interviews with surviving members and industry figures, and addresses Brian Wilson's limited involvement from the 1980s onward due to his conservatorship, as well as Dennis Wilson's connection to the Manson murders. After commercial disappointments like Surf's Up and Holland, the compilation Endless Summer revives the band's success. The film touches on lawsuits between Love and Wilson in the 1990s and ends with a reunion of surviving members.

Music

The soundtrack for The Beach Boys film dropped digitally on May 24, 2024, alongside the movie itself. It features a selection of classic Beach Boys hits plus the new Stephen Sanchez song "Baby Blue Bathing Suit," which came out as a single eight days earlier. A shorter version of the soundtrack later appeared on Apple Music. This release marked the final official Beach Boys project before Brian Wilson passed away in June 2025. Several other tracks appear in the film but not on the album, including "Sloop John B," "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes, "Surf's Up," and "Kokomo," among many others.

Release

The film debuted on Disney+ on May 24, 2024, following advance IMAX screenings on May 21, 2024, which included a live Q&A from the Los Angeles premiere. It is the first film to open with the "standard variant" of the 2022 Disney logo. On Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 54 critics gave positive reviews, with an average rating of 6.90/10; the consensus calls it a straightforward overview that wraps essentials in a warm blanket. Metacritic assigned a score of 63 out of 100, indicating generally favorable reviews.

Criticism included the omission of much of the band's post-1970s history. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave a two-star review, calling the film superficial and questioning its audience. Nicolas Rapold of The New York Times noted deviations from chronological order but defended them. Robert Lloyd of Los Angeles Times described it as a swift, compact telling with little music and swaths of recording history skipped, and noted the omission of the band's 50th-anniversary reunion tour and final studio album.