Of all the films to leave me in an emotionally vulnerable stupor, I never could have predicted one to be the Milli Vanilli biopic.

Girl You Know It’s True, originally released in Germany on December 21, 2023, was released on streaming services in the United States on August 9. Written and directed by Simon Verhoeven, the film follows the meteoric rise and catastrophic fall of 80’s pop supernova Milli Vanilli.

The duo have been experiencing a bit of a renaissance in the past several years. Not only was Girl You Know It’s True one of two simultaneous Milli Vanilli biopics in production, but a Paramount+ exclusive documentary about their story and scandal, simply titled Milli Vanilli, was released October 24, 2023.

As someone who knew virtually nothing about Milli Vanilli outside of the scandal, I was more than intrigued by the trailer. Not only did it feature the glittering synth and addictive percussion of the film’s namesake and the band’s signature track, but it promised a deeper exploration of two men raked over the coals by the very people who propped them up as gods in the first place. Admittedly, I was even more intrigued after reading Gil Kaufman’s 2020 Billboard article Blame It On the Tape: A Behind-the-Scenes Oral History of the Rise and Fall of Milli Vanilli. A common issue I have with biopics, particularly those involving celebrities who are no longer with us, is the tendency to gloss over or erase the less savory parts of their lives or personalities. After reading Kaufman’s article and rewatching the trailer (again), I was curious how this Girl You Know It’s True would handle its subject matter.

One of the biggest and brightest green flags to rise while looking into this film’s production was the names attached to it. The film was co-produced by none other than Fabrice Morvan, Fab himself, and Kevin Liles, the composer behind the original version of “Girl You Know It’s True” by Numarx. Associate producers on the film also include Todd Headlee (Milli Vanilli’s former assistant), Carmen Pilatus (Rob’s sister), Brad Howell, Jasmine Davis (John Davis’s daughter) and Ingrid “Milli” Segieth (Frank’s assistant). Having so many people who were involved, or their relatives, in the real-life story behind the film adds authenticity and intrigue to the project. Not only are the events potentially closer to reality, but they result in conflicting accounts that add an interesting texture to Girl You Know It’s True. It speaks to the subjectivity of reconstructed memory and how it can interact with objective reality, and the film expertly finds balance between the two.

The film’s pitch-perfect casting is the first thing those familiar with the group and its history will notice. Tijan Njie and Elan Ben Ali are eerie as Rob and Fab, respectively. Milli Vanilli mastermind Frank Farian, who was previously best known for producing hitmakers Boney M, is portrayed by Matthias Schweighöfer. His assistant and girlfriend, Milli, is played by Bella Dayne, and Tijan Marie plays Rob’s sister, Carmen. On top of the casting is the flawless costuming and set design. At no point does the film feel like a modern movie in 80’s drag – everything from the clothes and hair to the locations feels like a peek back in time. Archival footage and photos are often used in tandem with film recreations, and it’s honestly difficult to tell them apart at times. 

At the start of the film, much like in real life, Rob and Fab were nobody. While little is said of Morvan’s childhood and backstory, outside of his history as a choreographer and sporadic phone calls with his mother, we get an intimate snapshot of Rob’s childhood and struggles after his fall from grace. He is, without a doubt, the major focus of the film. This is made abundantly clear within the first few seconds of the film, which opens with a shot of his back as a frenzied crowd chants “We want Rob.”

The adopted child of white German parents working his ass off as a breakdancer, Rob meets Fab on the set of a music video. While the first few years were spent scraping together a meager living as catalog models and street dancers, their big break came in March 1988 when they debuted their soon-to-be signature braids and met Farian. In seemingly no time at all, they became gods in the pop world. Their debut single “Girl You Know It’s True” became a smash hit in the United States, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1989. Their follow-up singles “Baby Don’t Forget My Number”, “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” and “Blame It on the Rain” would all go on to reach number 1 in the United States.

It’s no secret that the lack of transparency concerning the actual singers behind those infectious hits is what permanently tarnished the band’s name and cost Rob and Fab everything. In fact, it may be the only thing most people know about Milli Vanilli nowadays. However, the film poses an interesting question regarding the deception. In the scene where Farian introduces the audience to “the real Milli Vanilli”, revealing the artists and personnel behind the music, he asks the audience to consider if they would have bought t-shirts with the actual singers on them. Would you, dear viewer, have drooled over the “hot moves” of Brad Howell or screamed John Davis’s name?

“Would we have been MTV material, huh? Ask yourself that.”

Much of the film’s tone is tongue-in-cheek like this, including the needle-drop moment of Arista Records executives hearing the duo’s thick French and German accents or Rob’s quiet “oh yeah” when Fab reminds him they weren’t beloved by the entire USA after their first single (alluding to Numarx in Baltimore). However, the true heart of the film is Rob Pilatus. His particular tragedy of trying, and ultimately failing, to use his fame and status to find his birth parents is gut-wrenching. The scene where his supposed father is exposed is honestly chilling, largely due to Njie’s performance and the lighting shifts as the scene progresses. Watching his relationship with Fab fall apart in the back half of the film after their fall from grace is heartbreaking, and the way they portray his death left me genuinely speechless. That scene in particular should be considered a benchmark of how to portray something so tragic in a way that’s both effective and tasteful.

Unlike some biopics, Girl You Know It’s True isn’t afraid to portray its protagonists in an unflattering light. In fact, one of my favorite scenes shows Pilatus throwing what can only be described as a violent hissy fit. He flips a table and screams at staff members because craft services provide sandwiches over his beloved sushi. Despite one of the managers making an excellent point about the duo’s constant drug use and some decidedly R-rated remarks being made in front of an audience that includes “ten-year-old girls,” an Arista rep basically tells the manager to get over himself and go fetch Pilatus some damn sushi.

That being said, as with any biopic, there are certainly less flattering events omitted from Girl You Know It’s True. While Pilatus’s 1996 suicide attempt was visually alluded to in the first ten minutes of the film, his allegations of sexual battery were brushed over. Curiously, their work as Rob & Fab and the production of their only album under that name is completely absent. The unreleased 1997 Milli Vanilli comeback album, Back and in Attack, also goes unmentioned. After their fall from grace, the two men are seen living lower than square one with Rob’s sister encouraging him to give up on music altogether. As the film’s runtime exceeds two hours, it makes sense that certain events and details were altered or excluded. However, it does miss out on an added layer of tragedy by excluding their ultimately doomed attempts to reenter the spotlight.

Regardless, the film does an incredible job balancing Pilatus and Morvan’s complacency in the lie with their victimhood within it. While it’s clear the duo didn’t deserve the praise, accolades and godlike status they gained from music they had no input in, despite their best efforts, they didn’t deserve the violent retaliation from the public. The same people who enabled the duo’s shittiest behaviors were among the quickest to disavow Milli Vanilli. Arista Records promptly erased their masters from their catalog. Phoenix-based radio station Y-95 really did host an event where DJ Bruce Kelly donned a dreadlock wig and steamrolled a pile of Milli Vanilli records and tapes. For years beyond the scandal, the name “Milli Vanilli” was synonymous with “lip-synching frauds.” The perspective shift alone makes Girl You Know It’s True worth a watch, but its overall artistry and care deserve the Academy’s consideration.

To be blunt, this film is a triumph in more ways than one. Not only did it survive development hell, but the end result was an effective and thought-provoking exploration of one of the most infamous scandals in music industry history. The rise and fall of a worldwide sensation is a tale as old as time, retold time and again to the point of cliche, but the way Girl You Know It’s True tackles Rob and Fab’s story should be used as a blueprint for future biopics.

Girl You Know It’s True is currently available on VOD and streaming services.