Celine Dion’s new documentary about her life and rare disease has left music fans emotional.
While the movie, directed by Academy Award–nominee Irene Taylor, touches on the Canadian chanteuse’s rise to fame, it mainly focuses on the effects , an extremely rare and incurable illness, has had on her life.
I Am: Celine Dion premiered on Prime Video on June 25, and some fans have said they’ve already watched it multiple times. Others have described their emotional reactions to the documentary.
“I have just finished watching ‘I Am Celine Dion’ on ,” one viewer wrote on X, formerly . “I cannot express how raw, heartbreaking and, at times, distressing it is. This’ll be with me for some time.”
Stiff-person syndrome affects about one or two people in every million. It is a progressive autoimmune neurological disorder that causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms. SPS usually begins in a person’s torso before developing in the arms and legs.
Scenes in the documentary show Dion being attended to by paramedics as she lies motionless in a crisis.
Later in the film, Dion is filmed experiencing another crisis in real time, with her entire body stiffening. As her medical team works to ensure that she does not end up in the hospital, the singer, who is unable to move, cries.
“Her body and her brain is overstimulated,” Terrill Lobo, Dion’s sports medicine therapist, said during the scene.
“Every time something like this happens, it makes you feel so embarrassed,” Dion said after the crisis passed.
Elsewhere in the feature-length documentary, Dion becomes overwhelmed and tears up when discussing how the illness has affected her voice and career.
“I think I was very good. I think I had some stuff that was amazing,” she said, adding at another point, “I don’t want to sound dramatic, but I could have died.”

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Fans watching the documentary at home shared their thoughts on social media, with many saying they found it emotional.
“Not even 12 minutes in I’m already tearing up,” one viewer wrote on X.
“The intimacy and vulnerability of #CelineDion’s new documentary #iamcelinedion brings me to tears! So much respect and admiration for her. It couldn’t be easy sharing this with the world,” another added.
“Second time watching and I sobbed. Again. I freaking LOVE this woman,” a user commented.
“To say this was heartbreakingly beautiful is an understatement,” another wrote. “Sharing such a private pivotal moment in her life is so courageous. She is one determined to step on that stage again. I knew I’d be emotional watching this, but not THAT emotional. 1000/10.”
Dion, who has sold more than 250 million albums worldwide, is one of the most successful artists in the music industry. Her Las Vegas residencies remain the two highest-grossing of all time.
In 2022, the singer told the world she had SPS, describing the muscle spasms that affected her ability to sing and walk.
“While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know this is what’s been causing all of the spasms that I’ve been having,” she said in a video posted on at the time. “Unfortunately, the spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to.”
I Am: Celine Dion is available on Prime Video.