“Maybe we can make some sense.” David Byrne & Spike Lee’s joyous concert film is just as energizing as Stop Making Sense; it offers a theme of peace, inclusivity and social justice, and ponders the personal challenge of finding one’s way in the chaos of modern living. The songs are a mix of new pieces, borrowed raps and vintage Talking Heads hits that will Burn Down the house; David Byrne’s speeches are soothing. Made just as the COVID crisis arrived, the show still carries a positive, hopeful message. The technical production behind the show is a marvel in itself — nothing gets between us and the performers.

David Byrne’s American Utopia
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1294
2020 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 106 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 16, 2025 / 49.95
Starring: David Byrne, Jacquelene Acevedo, Gustavo Di Dalva, Daniel Freedman, Chris Giarmo, Tim Keiper, Tendayi Kuumba, Karl Mansfield, Mauro Refosco, Stéphane San Juan, Angie Swan, Bobby Wooten III.
Cinematography: Ellen Kuras
Lighting Designer: Rob Sinclair
Film Editor: Adam Gough
Songs: Hugo Ball, Ashey Beedle, David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Darren House, Nathaniel Irvin III, Roman GianArthur Irvin, Charles Joseph II, George E. Peters II, Janelle Monáe Robinson, St. Vincent, Fatboy Slim, Tina Weymouth, Walt Whitman,
Choreography and Music Staging: Annie-B Parson
Produced by David Byrne, Spike Lee
Directed by Spike Lee

It’s a rough news week … we all need a sanity break from the awful things that are happening. A distraction was needed and mine came in the form of  David Byrne’s American Utopia, a concert film newly released on disc by Criterion. Made by Byrne and Spike Lee, it’s nowhere near as well known as the Byrne/Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club/Jonathan Demme smash from 1984,  Stop Making Sense. Was it set aside during the early onslaught of COVID-19?

American Utopia feels like a next-generation Stop Making Sense. That landmark performing-art concert film hasn’t dimmed in popularity since its debut — it enjoyed a successful theatrical revival last year. In adapting his concert material to the film format, David Byrne and director Jonathan Demme stayed clear of the music video format, but stuck to the raw elements of a stage performance, using lighting and blocking to build the performing ensemble song by song. That 1984 film still feels like it is going somewhere.

Thirty-six years later, David Byrne’s American Utopia reinvents this Enhanced Concert formula. What began as a record album was transformed into a themed concert that toured the world, coming to a finish just before the 2020 onset of COVID. Byrne had already brought in filmmaker Spike Lee to collaborate on a film version.

The picture is 100+ minutes of great music and visual dynamics, live performances recorded by Spike Lee with 11 cameras. At least a third of the film’s appeal comes from the choreography of Annie-B Parson. The music is danced as it is performed — seeing the muscians gyrate is rhythm-infectious. The lead dancers Chris Giarmo and Tendayi Kuumba are often out front ‘n’ center, yet stay attached to the ensemble. And everyone is barefoot throughout.

David Byrne speaks between songs, advancing a message of personal enlightenment and public positivity. He begins with a model of a human brain, explaining how we use less of it as we develop, not more. His talks begin with poetic ruminations on what makes a good life. Byrne’s satiric/sincere  True Stories observed a group of Reagan-era Texans search for happiness with a ‘Celebration of Specialness’. In Utopia Byrne identifies our concerns, alluding to anxiety over how should one live a life, make personal connections, be social. He brings up the need to achieve a personal concept of Home, to just find security in one’s own skin?

Byrne’s approach has always shown his art school roots. He waves the flag for the old Dada movement, which he pointedly identifies as a partly political response to economic collapse and fascism. The performers recite part of Ursonate, Dada poetry by Kurt Schwitters that Byrne says was a big influence on his work — total nonsense talk.

Interspersed among the new themed songs are some old Talking Heads standards, with rhythms that make tapping one’s foot unavoidable. Several songs into the lineup, as more musicians collect on the stage, Byrne is given an electric guitar and the action moves to a new level; the cast does double duty as an avant-garde dance troupe. The overall feel is of a group exercise, not a string of specialty showcases. The concert communicates a vibe of ‘we’re all in this together,’ not ‘we’re so cool.’

One talk break feels like a confession — an early record contract gave Byrne enough money to invest in a ‘Sony Trinitron’ TV, and he watched the strange contents of broadcast TV looking for inspiration. A random documentary was the source of the iconic ‘tribal’ bit of hand choreography Byrne used in the music video for Once in a Lifetime. He repeats it here, but not when the band plays that song. The nonsense ‘big suit’ doesn’t return either, telling us that American Utopia doesn’t want to make a retro statement. Once in a Lifetime does begin with Byrne’s distinct performance choreography, ‘dancing’ as if we were The Incredible Shrinking Man, gotten so small that he’s being bombarded by atomic particles.

We don’t remember Stop Making Sense reaching for a socko finale. It just felt like nirvana all the way through. American Utopia attains a similar state of grace, with the caveat that its message can’t help be literal, what with Byrne directly discussing what the songs are about and steering us through notions of acceptance, inclusivity and general Peace on Earth. Some of the show does pin us down to political specifics. A random visual of Colin Kaepernick comes up, and a song piece is devoted to the radical, subversive notion that we all need to vote. Immigrants get a positive shout-out. A powerful piece near the end is an unapologetic protest in line with Black Lives Matter, using Janelle Monáe’s rap song “Hell You Talmbout.”  We thought it might be a Spike Lee addition, but it was in the stage concert as well.

American Utopia is also fascinating just as a production. Although the stage area is ringed with electronics and sophisticated automated lighting equipment, the only décor is a side and back curtain made of silvery chain material, apparently very heavy. The performers wear silvery blue suits, creating a monochrome look that can shift color at any time depending on the lighting. The brightest thing we see is Chris Giarmo’s red lips!  The sophisticated selective lighting allows one number to throw a stark giant silhouette of Byrne on the chain-curtain behind him, while other performers’ shadows go elsewhere.

Byrne uses a ‘talk break’ moment to emphasize that no playback tracks are heard, that all the music we hear is being recorded live. We see no wires or amps. Byrne and Angie Swan’s guitars are wireless, the same as all the instruments, even little handheld Brazilian percussion instruments. All of the performers have full freedom of movement, to behave as a performing dance machine. It reminds us that Stop Making Sense was a technical landmark, noted as the first musical film with audio digitally recorded from source to final product. Each performer in American Utopia is fitted with a digital homing device, allowing programmed robot lighting to follow each of them no matter where they move on the stage.

The Criterion Collection’s 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray of David Byrne’s American Utopia is a real stunner. In this case we compared the 4K disc to the HD encoding on the included Blu-ray — the 4K image was much, much better. Criterion says that the digital master was supervised by director of photography Ellen Kuras.

A key extra is a talk between David Byrne and Spike Lee, recorded in 2020. We wondered why they are sitting so far apart until we realized that Social Distancing was in effect. A full new making-of documentary with the film’s main creatives answers a great many questions about the history of the concert and the complicated production assembled for the film. The folding insert sheet carries more artwork, plus worthwhile essays by K. Austin Collins and Jia Tolentino.

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

David Byrne’s American Utopia
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements:
New documentary featuring Kuras, musician-producer David Byrne, dancer-vocalist Tendayi Kuumba, director Spike Lee, choreographer and musical stager Annie-B Parson, lighting designer Rob Sinclair, and bassist Bobby Wooten III
Conversation from 2020 between Lee and Byrne
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by critic K. Austin Collins and an appreciation by critic Jia Tolentino.
Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? YES; Subtitles: English (feature only)
Packaging: One 4K Ultra HD disc + one Blu-ray in Keep case
Reviewed: December 18, 2025
(7439utop)

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