The new biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere was released on Oct. 24, and its approach emphasizes so much more than music. 

I’ve been a Bruce Springsteen fan for as long as I can remember. He was my first concert at only five years old, and I’ve seen him four more times since, so watching the movie felt like a no-brainer for me. But what’s most striking to me about this film is that you don’t have to know The Boss as much as I do to connect to it.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is a story of pain, confusion, and trauma—contrasting Springsteen the rockstar’s internal dissonance with black and white flashbacks of Springsteen the human being. Alluding to difficult family dynamics and the struggle to find purpose, Deliver Me From Nowhere is no dime-a-dozen rock biopic, choosing instead to focus on the writing and recording of 1982’s folk-tinged classic “Nebraska”—an uncommercial album about serial killers and tortured father-son relationships.

Not only was the album a creative risk, but also highlights his desire to put out work he feels genuinely connected to. While many may still prefer the classics—”Born to Run” and “Hungry Heart”—”Nebraska” stands as a testament to the isolating process of rediscovering both musical and personal purpose. 

One of my favorites on the album, “Atlantic City,”  a story of financial struggle and crime, echoes Springsteen’s focus on working-class struggles and connects back to his upbringing. A solemn melody, the song is just Springsteen’s voice, a guitar, and harmonica, proving simplicity to be both effective and moving. 

Most biopics follow a life story, from childhood to conflict and later resolution. But “Deliver Me From Nowhere” takes a new approach, honing in on a singular year of Springsteen’s career. The film depicts Springsteen’s creative inner journey, intertwining his feelings of doubt, isolation, and honesty into the album. This choice is what makes the movie so powerful.

While we don’t all know how to write music or sell out an arena, we can understand what it’s like to feel misunderstood.  

Starring “The Bear’s” Jeremy Allen White in the titular role, this film dives into Springsteen’s relationship with his father and his challenging upbringing. Struggling with feelings of isolation and self-doubt, the film presents a leather jacket-clad avatar for those battling something similar. Not only did I relate to and feel impacted by the film’s story, but I also felt a stronger connection to The Boss’s storytelling and personality than ever. Because he approved of the film and its release, I see the film as a new chapter in Springsteen’s ongoing quest for honesty and vulnerability, values he’s always explored in his middle-class narratives and arena-uniting raw rock sound. 

“Nebraska” was the darkest that exploration ever got, and while “Deliver Me From Nowhere” occasionally rings hollow, its formal inventions present a unique twist to the tired Oscar-bait of recent cousins like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman. Instead of honing in on Springsteen’s greatest hits, the film emphasizes some of his darkest months, allowing viewers to grasp Springsteen’s muted character and the impact of fame on identity. 

“I do know who you are,” a car salesman tells Springsteen in an early scene.

“Well, that makes one of us,” he says back.

While everyone may not be able to relate to the challenges that come with being a superstar, Springsteen’s emotional battle is a narrative that reaches past his fandom and into something far more personal. I’m so used to Springsteen’s energetic stage presence—the film opens in the wake of his iconic 1981 River tour—that stepping out onto this road of turmoil made his music more powerful and relatable.

At the end of the day, the stars we know and love are just people struggling to make the same sense of themselves and the world around them as we all do. That’s essentially the heart of Springsteen’s biopic, where the artist isn’t depicted as a myth, but a person that everyone, whether musically-inclined or not, can relate to. We don’t have to have gone through the trials and tribulations of becoming a hit rockstar to understand Springsteen because, as Deliver Me From Nowhere shows, he understands us through his story of struggle and isolation, one that almost anyone can resonate with.