Popular reviews

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★½ 2

  So when this movie got released everyone was talking about how this must be seen. Many things mentioned by the critics went from being weird to generally being bizarre and alarming. As someone who grew up loving and dancing along with these guys (don't judge me), it was shocking and in some ways ruined part of my childhood now.

  The documentary itself is quite well produced, with an appropriate balance between talking heads and actual footage. Things were made much more enjoyable thanks to some snappy editing. Towards the end things got a bit weird, like they had Aaron Carter appear for a few moments and he was arguing in favor of Lou and against those who said Lou was…

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  Review by single white femalien 18

  it sounds like jane carter knew exactly what lou pearlman did to nick, decided money and fame were more important, and delivered aaron directly to lou on a silver platter? he's adamantly, vociferously pro-pearlman in this in a way that belies a deep well of pain imo. the carter boys reek of trauma but aaron's seems wild and unchecked, a very unwell man. i can't laugh at aaron his hurt is so raw. i'm way less interested in the financial grifter aspect of the lou pearlman story like yes stealing money from these sad old people is horrible but it's strange that exploiting teenage boys to have direct access to their fresh faced young bodies isn't the bigger story here…

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  Review by Evan Minsker ★★★

  I am still haunted by Aaron Carter’s interviews in this

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  Review by MaryAnn 🌵 ★★★★

  A fascinating look at Lou Pearlman. I knew very little about him except that he created BSB and *Nsync and conned them out of their money. This documentary shows how he did that and how he also had a bunch of other schemes going on. The people interviewed had very insightful and relevant stories. Well-known figures like Lance Bass from *Nsync and AJ McLean from Backstreet Boys expressed their frustration in a rather sympathetic way. They were young kids completely taken advantage of by a man they trusted. And on the other side of the age spectrum, Pearlman conned seniors as well. Overall, this is a good watch for anyone interested in music or finance.

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  Review by 𝙺𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎 🐞 ★★★★ 2

  How does Lance Bass look younger than Aaron Carter?

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  Review by CharmingPotato ★★★½

  Absolutely worth creating a YouTube Premium account for - and cancelling it right after, b/c I don't need access to dozens of bad sitcoms by influencers right now in my life. But I do require a steady stream of con artist stories, and this one is a doozy. For the grifter connoisseur, much of the Pearlman odyssey is well-documented across longreads, podcasts, and the excellently titled book The Hit Charade. But the real attraction of The Boy Band Con is the access to the frontline teen pop idols points of view. Lance Bass produced this, and even frames the story with a conversation with his mom that has all the quasi intimacy of a reality TV montage, but he makes…

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  Review by Dan Gorman ★★★½ 4

  Lou Pearlman was clearly a monster who left a path of destruction and abuse in his wake. Watching this you wish more was said about his clear history of abuse instead of leaning heavily on his financial scams, but I guess you also can't demand the victims be ready to talk about it either because jesus this guy was a piece of work.

  He literally screwed over everyone he came across. I also felt bad for his old friend who loved blimps and then was immediately conned by Lou.

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  Review by Jason Bailey ★★★★

  Based on the subject matter and the producer credit for Lance Bass, I expected this documentary on the crooked impresario behind *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Aaron Carter, and O-Town to be, basically, a Behind the Music situation — and for the first half hour or so, it is. But director Aaron Kunkel has more on his mind, crafting not only an exposé of Pearlman’s dirty deals, but a psychological profile of a pathological liar and crook, and then the story of a Madoff-style fleecing. It’s a rise and fall story, meticulously detailed and full of fascinating, upsetting sidebars, and even some rather tasty tea.

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  Review by Rifky Nobu Mitsuki ★★★★

  The only connection I had with these US boy band is that my mom was a fangirl of Backstreet Boys, she loved Nick Carter, she told me about that when I'm starting into K-pop around 10 years ago (2nd gen K-pop era), talking about how popular they are when she was high schooler and how good they song are, and that what makes BSB become part of my life.

  I absolutely feel sorry for BSB and N'Sync to going through that unfairness, and somehow what Lou Pearlman did to those groups, still happens to this day.
  The case I remember the most was B.A.P; A boy band from a small agency whose debut in 2012 and was quite successful, until…

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  Review by Patrick Pryor ★★★½

  Wait “Bye Bye Bye” was about Lou Pearlman???

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  Review by beingboiled ★★★★ 1

  It’s crazy to think that the foundational texts for modern pop music can be traced back to a pedophile blimp salesman

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  Review by Gorbachev ★★★½

  I had no idea that “bye bye bye” by N’SYNC was a diss track