Music review – Sia’s controversial film about autism lacks coherence and authenticity

The pop star's directorial debut is a hodge-podge of giddy numbers and narrative tropes, and its star, Maddie Ziegler, lacks credibility

Australian pop star and songwriter Sia Furler's feature directorial debut Music is in effect two very different films with wildly disparate tones, stuck together using a sludgy mixture of by-the-book drama and hipstery eclecticism.

One - a collection of music sequences presented in spanking bright colours, with sets and costumes that seem designed to replicate the experience of taking magic mushrooms during a fashion show or contemporary art exhibition - is nothing but self-conscious.