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Anitta is huge in her homeland of Brazil, and a star of Latin Pop. But like any artist with ambition, she has her sights set on taking over America. Anitta: Made In Honorio is a made-for-Netflix introduction to the pop singer, with all the glitter, glamor, and bling you’d expect from an international pop sensation.
ANITTA: MADE IN HONORIO: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: A bustling audience in the thousands is hooting and hollering, egged on by a PA announcer. Their devices are held aloft in eager anticipation of the curtain drop. Anitta is about to appear.
The Gist: Anitta is a pop celebrity phenomenon in her native Brazil and a worldwide media force to the tune of 4.8 billion YouTube viewers, 47 million Instagram followers, and millions upon millions of monthly Spotify streamers. Since 2013, the 27-year-old singer, real name Larissa de Macedo Machado, has dropped four hit studio records and one live album, and hopped on collaborations with Diplo’s Major Lazer outfit and the Colombian reggaeton star J Balvin. But one thing she hasn’t done is conquer America, and that’s what Made In Honorio is designed to help change. With Anitta’s debut English-language full-length, Girl From Rio, set to drop in 2021, the first of Honorio‘s six season one episodes introduces Netflix audiences to Anitta’s world, from glittering, booty-shaking performances on international stages, to chaotic behind-the-scenes clamor, and mellower moments at home in Rio de Janeiro with her close-knit extended family. Clocking in at less than 30 minutes and breathlessly edited, it’s a rapid, immersive ride.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? In Honorio is actually Netflix’s second collaboration with the Brazilian star — the three episodes of 2018’s Vai Anitta covered some of the same ground. The streamer is also home to another International act aiming for a US takeover. Blackpink: Light Up the Sky is a fun look at the superstar K-Pop group as they make a play for American ears. Finally, Netflix features Homecoming, the Grammy Award-winning music film from Beyonce, one of the biggest influences on Anitta’s sound.
Our Take: With its rapid-fire edits and flickering rush of flashy performance footage, bustling backstage sessions for makeup and hair, and the crush of humanity that seems to follow a pop singer wherever she goes — managers and handlers, friends and admirers, cosmetic support staff and always, always, always photographers — the first episode of Anitta: Made In Honorio joins a cascading whirlwind already in progress. It’s difficult to get a handle on the singer’s sound, beyond snatches of reggaeton rhythm or the vibes of Beyonce. The eye gets fatigued, following the onstage fireworks and furious choreography of her backup dancers. Luckily, the action slows a bit, and Honorio gathers itself to reveal the woman at the center of it all as a gregarious lover of the spotlight who also relishes and demands control of her media brand down to each individual job within it. “I had to grab the mic and direct the video, so we’d wrap in time,” she relates to a hairdresser in frustration over a director. “Because he couldn’t even get the lighting done.”
While there’s sure to be plenty of the vibrancy and big money of the pop life depicted going forward through the season, In Honorio finds its best initial footing when it focuses on Anitta’s homelife, where she’s still known as Larissa. Testimonials from her mother and brother describe an individual who was always driven to create, and loves what she does, but struggles with the bombast and the sycophantic side of celebrity life. As the star herself says, “You feel like you’re never sure who’s on your side and why.” And in the episode’s most revealing moment, she shares an early experience with sexual assault that scarred her as an individual, but inspired her as a professional.
Sex and Skin: Anitta lives out loud on stage and off, and her revealing stage wear is matched with male and female necking in the champagne room, plus lots of sass about her lively love life.
Parting Shot: In a very meta final sequence, we climb aboard a private jet and fly with Anitta and her crew to Lima, Peru, where after hours of travel and preparation of her costuming, hair, and makeup, she finally makes her appearance before the masses. “We came, we sang for 15 minutes…actually 15 seconds.” Anitta watches IG footage of her performance on her mobile device in a getaway van. “Now we’re leaving, and that’s that.” And it’s back on the jet to do it all again, and make the scene at another performance, hundreds of miles away.
Sleeper Star: Anitta is known as a dog lover on her Instagram and in her native Brazil, so it’s no wonder that her chestnut-and-white pooch Olavo, which appears to be a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, nonchalantly appears on whatever seat is alongside his owner, no matter if she’s cruising at 600 miles per hour in a G650 or chilling back at the family homestead in Rio. Olavo’s the sleeper; Anitta’s the star.
Most Pilot-y Line: A choreographer in Anitta’s entourage draws an important comparison between the demanding, occasionally domineering pop star and the individual person underneath. “Larissa doesn’t worry about anything,” she says. “But Anitta has to if she wants to make things happen.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. Anitta: Made In Honorio is a lot to unpack at first, but it illuminates how pop music gets done on an international scale, and is really effective when it lets the star at its center be at her most personal.
Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges
