‘The Sparks Brothers’ documentary is now on Netflix

The Sparks Brothers, Edgar Wright's wildly entertaining documentary about Ron and Russell Mael's avant pop duo Sparks, is now available to stream on Netflix.

As we wrote in our review, this is Wright's attempt to make an all-things-to-everyone film that both explains who Sparks are and why they are so beloved to a small but devoted segment of the population, but is also meaty and in-depth enough to appeal to the already converted. He mostly succeeds with both, tracking their lives from growing up and going to school in Los Angeles in the '60s, to starting the band, their initial success in the UK (Brits took to their weird, glammy sound more than Sparks' home country), their late-'70s synthpop reinvention (with help from Giorgio Moroder), their New Wave '80s, and their accepted roles as cult artists who would continue to make great album after great album adored by a devoted few (and most of the Netherlands).

The documentary also features testimonials from famous Sparks fans like Thurston Moore, Flea, Beck, New Order, Duran Duran, Fred Armisen, Mike Myers, and more. You can stream The Sparks Brothers on Netflix now and watch the trailer for it below. If you need more Sparks, you can watch Annette, their rock opera collaboration with Leos Carax, on Amazon.

The documentary's Netflix debut is good timing for Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver), whose new psychological horror film, Last Night in Soho, hits theaters this weekend. The film stars Anya-Taylor Joy (The Queen's Gambit), Matt Smith (Dr Who, The Crown) and Thomasin McKenzie and is about "a young girl, passionate in fashion design, who is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer. But 1960s London is not what it appears, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences…" You can watch the trailer for that below.

Sparks will be on tour in 2022, including two NYC shows at Town Hall on March 28 & 29 (tickets).

Read our interviews with Sparks and Edgar Wright.