Lisa steps out alone as Always Lalisa opens in IMAX worldwide
Lisa's leap from group star to solo act reaches cinemas on 12 October with Always Lalisa, a fly-on-the-wall documentary that follows a year in her life. It was directed by Sue Kim, and it tracks the Blackpink member as she builds a career under her own name, according to Variety.
The release starts big. The film opens in IMAX cinemas worldwide on 12 October for a limited theatrical run before streaming exclusively on YouTube Premium later this year, according to Sony Music and YouTube.
The camera stays with Lisa across 2024 and 2025. That stretch includes the launch of her own management company during a break from Blackpink, plus her first solo album, Alter Ego. It also takes in a Coachella performance, a Bond theme sung at the Oscars and an acting debut in The White Lotus.
Then the film rewinds. Lisa beat out 4,000 others at age 13 to become a trainee at YG Entertainment, the South Korean company behind Blackpink. She debuted as the group's rapper and dancer in 2016. She says life as a trainee was tightly controlled, with YG prohibiting drinking, dating, having a driver's licence and going out to see friends, with every movement tracked.
One section deals with a difficult chapter. The film addresses leaked YG training videos that showed members rapping along to songs and using the N-word. Lisa says the person who leaked the videos made threats against her life.
The film leans on new interviews and old material. Family and friends speak, along with White Lotus creator Mike White, and the story is told with archival footage and never-before-seen clips. There are two gaps. Kim told The Hollywood Reporter the filmmakers were not allowed to licence Blackpink music or footage despite their best efforts. Frederic Arnault, heavily rumoured to be dating Lisa during filming, does not appear in the documentary.
Kim came to the project after directing the Apple TV series K-Pop Idols. She said she had complete freedom from Sony Music Vision, which is the creative partner and owner of the project.
What makes this stand out is access. Fans know the arena shows and the red carpets. This is the in-between: travel, rehearsals, business meetings and the pressure of putting a solo name on the poster after years in one of pop's biggest groups.
