Antiheroine: The Recovery of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Favorite “Trainwreck”

Sundance Film Review: Antiheroine
Director: Edward Lovelace & James Hall
Dorothy Street Pictures
Premiere: 01.27.2026

History will always favor the rock star. The tortured artist electrifies the status quo through heavy partying and international sensations. No matter the barrels of Jack Daniels or the coma-inducing narcotics, it just looked like so much damn fun! Mötley Crüe reducing a five-star hotel room to a skid row hellhole, Billy Idol being banned from Thailand for instigating a riot, Chuck Negron getting his penis split in half from too much unprotected sex — we will always crave a sweet taste of that lifestyle… maybe not for that last one. Where history favors the male-dominated genre for its reckless mayhem, however, music itself treats its females like a double-edged sword. Before Lady Gaga faced scrutiny for her room-temperature meat dress or when Britney Spears shaved her head and attacked paparazzi with an umbrella, the music industry shined a searchlight of judgment on their most infamous bad girl — grunge rock band Hole’s mischievous lead singer Courtney Love. 

Antiherione begins with Love secluded to her London bungalow like the Wicked Witch of the West, as she reflects on her troubled upbringing and her crawling rise to fame. Through talk show snippets, news reports and even handwritten diary entries, we travel through major pinnacles of Love’s life like Hole’s underground roots, Love’s development of her iconic banshee scream, a movie deal and the record that made her an official “sell out.” Flying high off fame and fortune, Love began to experience emotional turbulence following the death of her husband and Nirvana’s frontman Kurt Cobain and the entire fanbase pinning Love for killing him. Nearly 30 years later and ostracized from all things music, Love rises from the Marlboro ashes like a phoenix reclaiming her new life and possibly a new record backed by her old bandmates and R.E.M’s Michael Stipe.

Love has always been a controversial archetype with her in-your-face attitude and no-fucks-given mindset. However, Antiherione shows her hard, candy-coated exterior melts with conflictions of self-doubt and relevancy. Watching her fumble around with the idea of TikTok or FaceTime, while describing such hellish childhood trauma like how her father fed her LSD at eight years old, is heart-wrenching. This and all the press’ relentless attempts to push her as an undesirable explain why she’s portrayed so darkly. Even all the faceless testimonials from band members and other high-profile names remember her in a common way — vulgar, rowdy, fed-up and always speaking her mind. Although crass, there’s love under this remembrance, reflecting Love will always be her truest form… probably more than any other big-name artist we will ever see again.

Antiherione will be one of those documentaries that should be praised for its honesty and ultimate “light at the end of the tunnel” stories that we all kind of need right now. Such downer docs like Super Size Me or Blackfish will leave you with the sour taste in your mouth that nothing will be fixed. This is the ordered reality of things — accept it! However, Antiherione shows us that even the most rough-around-the-edges of individuals need the same heart and care we all accept. There are the sleazy musicians, ones that lure you in like snake to forbidden fruit, charming with silver tongue and ultimately being uncovered as a terrible fucking person. In Love’s case, however, although her lyrics can sometimes be less-than appetizing and her outward attitude made high society shiver, she was true to us. We had our misconceptions about her (even me with the whole “did she kill Kurt?” debacle) and an apology is long overdue. So, I’m sorry Courtney. —Alton Barnhart

Read more of SLUG’s coverage of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.