A documentary about Billy Idol couldn't come at a better time, one hopes. Maybe enough voters for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame see the film and believe, based on what they see, that Idol should be inducted. But Billy Idol Should Be Dead is far more than a vote-grab.
Is the slightly more than two-hour doc perfect? No. Making such a film is nearly impossible in such a short amount of time when reviewing a person's entire life. Viewers will watch as Idol evolves from young skallywag to drug-abuser to grandfather. The title of the project, originally released in limited fashion in 2025, is a bit misleading.
Should Idol be dead? Maybe, but his drug, sex, and rock & roll lifestyle isn't unique. He had moments of being quite ill and close to death, but many have. What makes Idol special isn't his unique story, but the person whose birth name is William Broad himself.
Billy Idol Should Be Dead: To stream on Hulu or not to stream
A lot of the documentary is based on Idol's 2014 memoir, Dancing with Myself. The book is quite good and worth reading, but the reason the film succeeds is partly due to what a book cannot truly deliver in the same way.
Billy Idol Should Be Dead is elevated by the amazing artwork of Josh Shaffner, who takes small moments of Idol's life and makes them more vivid. The risk could have been that the movie's artwork felt more like The Wall and forced in, but Shaffner's work is far more human.
As for the many interspersed interviews with people from Idol's life, including family, members of the first band that Idol is well-known for (Generation X), and guitarist Steve Stevens, among many others, it is Idol who stands out most. He comes across as a good reviewer of his own life, but not negatively. His approach is objective, understanding his faults and his reasons for living a mostly charmed life.
The documentary's only real flaw is that near the end, we learn that Billy Idol has fathered three children (who are now adults) by three women, and that he has four grandchildren. The way this is presented seems to strain to fully cement that while Idol has had drag issues and personal demons, he is still a decent bloke.
The problem is that by the time we learn about how Idol lives his life now, we are already bought into the fact that he is just like us: A real and imperfect human being who loves his mom and isn't an awful guy. Some of the time devoted to the diverse family could have been better spent on what happens next for Billy Idol, which we can't know based on the film.
Overall, though, Billy Idol Should Be Dead is a triumph, mostly exceedingly well directed by Jonas Akerlund, with great insights into all of the early stages of Idol's musical career. The project, now streaming on Hulu, is definitely worth a viewer's time, whether one is a fan of the punk-pop icon or not.