‘In Wonder’: Shawn Mendes Professes His Love For The Stage
Since the release of his intro track, ‘Wonder,’ the endless chatter swarming around Shawn Mendes is yet to die down. Perhaps one could call that the Mendes effect. After his brief hiatus from the music scene, the young star has resurfaced with a promise of a sparkling new album, preceded by a fresh Netflix documentary, ‘In Wonder’. And just a couple hours ago, we got our first taste of the latter through a stunning new trailer.
Standing at almost two and a half minutes, the trailer opens with shots of Mendes going about his usual routine. “I sing with no tension,” we hear the star say before we’re shown a clip of him practicing vocal exercises. We’re then catapulted to centre stage, watching as Shawn soaks in the cheers of thousands and thousands of people.
The artist discusses this feeling at length. On stage, he’s “Superman,” he’s on top of the world, and it almost feels like he’s invincible. And with that comes the drive to push himself, to test his limits: both physically and mentally. But at the end of the day, he is very much mortal and very much human. So, it’s only normal to see him struggling with exhaustion backstage as we hear a voice warning, “You’re going to hurt yourself”.
Shawn Mendes Grapples Between a “Normal” Life & Being “Superman”
But, this is precisely where the dilemma lies as he grapples between this indescribable feeling and yearning to show fans that he’s just an ordinary person who loves music. We hear Shawn ponder on this as he admits, “This isn’t a story about a famous musician. This is a story about a guy growing up,I used to feel like my idols were born legendary. That’s just not the truth. If I tell the world that I’m just a normal human, are they going to stop, like, coming to the shows? … Maybe I should pretend that I’m Superman for a little bit longer.”
During bits of the trailer, we also get a peek at Camila Cabello. We see the young star as Shawn’s pillar, always by his side to offer comfort, advice and to help him come into his own. In a rather swoon-worthy shot, the trailer closes with a dialogue from Shawn as he waits in a car. “They’re all about you. Like every song I’ve ever wrote,” he’s heard saying.
‘In Wonder’ will make its landing on Netflix on November 23rd and gauging from the trailer, as Shawn grows and re-discovers every aspect of himself – this documentary is sure to give us an intimate look of it all.
By: Nina Karun
