Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All; A Small Light

“For fans of his music, there is lots of behind-the-scenes footage, from rehearsing with Stormzy at Wembley to writing the songs that will make up Subtract. But for more general viewers, there is plenty of heart, and his openness about his grief and pain feels important. Come to a documentary about Ed Sheeran for the pop; stay for an intimate look at marriage, loss and mental health.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“It seems film-makers and subject got way more than they bargained for, as 2022 turned into Sheeran’s personal annus horribilis. The result is that amidst a glossy, funny and entertaining portrait of the biggest pop star of our times, raw grief, fear, sadness, relief and joy are constantly breaking through in unexpected moments. Honestly, I didn’t expect to be shaken to my core by a flashy Disney promo film about a pop superstar. But the Sum of it All adds up to much more than the sum of its more obvious parts.”
Neil McCormick, The Telegraph

“Sum of It All becomes more than a formulaic profile of an artist at the peak of their powers and instead a study of a successful person negotiating some of the biggest challenges of their life. It makes for quietly absorbing television – parcelled out in four highly bingeable 30-minute segments. These films are typically best appreciated by die-hard fans, but you don’t have to be an ardent Ed-head to enjoy a series which delivers a frank portrait of an unlikely superstar who has tried to negotiate fame on his own terms.”
Ed Power, The i

“This initially bubbly, finally horrific and consistently gripping retelling of the story of Anne Frank focuses on the Austrian-born Dutch woman, Miep Gies, who helped shelter the Frank family during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. Much like life in the Third Reich, it starts as one thing, before morphing into something else entirely. First, it’s a chatty dramedy indebted to Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Then slowly, inexorably, the horror comes seeping through the walls as the Nazi extermination machine clicks into gear.”
Ed Power, The Telegraph

“At first, the way the characters speak – in what seems to me to be a particularly modern manner – threatens to jar with the seriousness of the story. Yet it soon ceases to seem odd and the drama settles into its own character and energy. What transpires is a lively, charming and poignant series that shines a new light on the Netherlands and what happened to its Jewish citizens during the second world war.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“There is a contrast between the show’s old-fashioned look and the contemporary way in which the younger characters often interact. If it means the series is less brutal, less gritty than it might have been, that makes sense because Bel Powley’s energy will hopefully help to relay Miep’s story to a younger audience. And the inspirational courage of her and Jan really does put the superheroes of Disney+ in their place: comic books.”
James Jackson, The Times