“We’re in trouble,” BTS rapper Suga sighs, putting his hand to his head. He’s in a studio in Los Angeles as the seven-member Korean boyband work on their big comeback album, ‘Arirang’, their first group release since being discharged from their mandatory military service. But, as the new Netflix documentary BTS: The Return finds, getting back into gear as the world’s biggest band isn’t exactly straightforward.
Directed by Bao Nguyen (The Stringer, The Greatest Night In Pop), BTS: The Return serves as a fly-on-the-wall look at the process of RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook coming back together. There are no formal interviews, just snatches of insights from the members in their downtime, often in the backs of cars on their way to and from the studio. Instead, most of the illuminating factors come from Nguyen’s crew acting as observers, watching tensions and triumphs unfold in front of them.
We get glimpses into songwriting sessions where RM questions whether his English lyrics are awkward as a non-native speaker, round the dinner table chats between the group at the end of long days, and intimate, lo-fi scenes shot by the band on handheld cameras. The doc takes us into discussions with label executives, whether Big Hit Music creative director Boyoung Lee suggesting the concept behind ‘Arirang’ with the members or HYBE chairman and founder Bang Si-hyuk making the case for using a different version of the album’s opening track, ‘Body To Body’. There are recreational moments, too, from all seven stars going to the beach in Santa Monica to relax, to snapshots of their lives outside of the studio, like V delivering the first pitch at the Dodgers or Jungkook hanging out with his dog Bam back in Korea.
Those conversations with the label feel like the most enlightening and interesting part of the film – access to a side of BTS’ career that has largely remained under wraps. For quotes like Suga explaining that making music, for him, has “been a way to document where I am in my life”, you get execs suggesting the group write something that’s universally relatable. ‘Arirang’’s lead single ‘Swim’ becomes a hot point of contention, with some of the members themselves unsure that it’s the right focus track for their big comeback.
Through it all, the overwhelming sense BTS: The Return gives is one of a group at a crossroads, figuring out which way to turn. At points, they’re decisive about needing more Korean lyrics, only for their team to steer them in a different direction. Early in the film, RM reflects on their past and how to move forward into the future, explaining they “have to decide what to keep and what to change”. That idea becomes the fuel behind the documentary as the group work through sessions in LA before finishing the record in South Korea, and whether you think they solved it will largely depend on your opinion of ‘Arirang’. Whatever your conclusion, watching the journey to this point is thoroughly intriguing.
‘BTS: The Return (A Documentary)’ is streaming now on Netflix