Always Lalisa follows BLACKPINK star Lalisa Manobal, known professionally as Lisa, through a pivotal period between 2024 and 2025 as she steps into her solo career, pursues acting, and discovers who she wants to be outside of the group. Directed by Sue Kim, the documentary offers an intimate look at the global superstar both on and off the stage. It is produced by Sony Music Vision in association with RCA Records and Tremolo Productions, in association with Salt Water Productions and LLOUD CO.
In an interview with Nexus Point News, Sue Kim discussed Lisa’s journey of self-discovery, what surprised her about the person behind the public image, the importance of her fans, and why she wanted audiences to understand the work and dedication behind Lisa’s success.
Always Lalisa captures Lisa during a very specific period of transition. What did you see in her at the beginning of that year that made you realize this was the story you wanted to tell?
Sue Kim: When I first started filming with her, I saw an artist, a young woman who was jam-packed with all these things that she had to do. She was recording an album, she was doing all these fan meets, traveling around the world, doing The White Lotus, and I saw some very clear ambition, and I thought that was interesting. But what I also saw in her that I think was more interesting was that I saw a woman who not only was looking at this year as a time to accomplish a lot of things in her solo career, but I also saw a woman that was looking at this year as a moment of freedom and a moment of exploration and kind of figuring out who she is.
And that was a lot more interesting to me than the career stuff. Of course, we followed all of her professional accomplishments, but what I was noticing was that Lisa herself was changing. She was being given so much more freedom, and at first she almost didn’t know what to do with it because she’d never had this level of freedom and agency in directing where her career was going to go and what she wanted to do.
As I continued filming, I saw a young woman become much more certain about what she did and didn’t want to do, and I saw a woman much more confident in who she wanted to be as an artist and as a human. And that takes time, and that whole process of becoming that more confident, more determined, more fully herself woman required a lot of ups and downs, and I think we captured that. But what I am so happy to have seen at the end is someone that feels much more fully herself.
We see so many sides of Lisa in the film — the global superstar, the performer, the daughter, the friend, and someone still figuring herself out, as you said. What surprised you most about the person you got to know behind the public image?
Sue Kim: I mean, the thing that surprised me the most is just how genuinely kind, but also really pure-hearted she is. And I say that not because I think anyone sees Lisa and thinks she isn’t pure-hearted. She’s so lovely, so sweet, so cute, and so charming, but oftentimes I think when you’re put in a position of great fame, great success and great pressure, people often become very guarded, or sometimes they can harden a little bit because they have to protect themselves from people that don’t have the best intentions, or it’s just a hard world to thrive in.
And somehow Lisa is one of the biggest pop stars in the entire world and has been for years, and she’s retained this sense of true… I don’t really want to call it innocence because that makes it sound like she’s not a very mature woman, and she is. It’s a sense of pure-heartedness that has not been affected or tainted by the fame and the luxury and all the things that this world contains. She reminds me very much of what she was probably like as a young girl in Thailand. She has not lost that sense of herself, and I think it’s so lovely and I think it’s so rare.
There was so much happening in Lisa’s life during that year. Was there a moment or experience that became particularly important to you in shaping the story of Always Lalisa?
Sue Kim: The film for me, we just started filming and I try really hard not to influence the film to be a certain thing. I try to let the footage that I’m seeing and capturing every day inform the story for me. I feel like it should appear to me. It’s not I should figure out what the story is. And the story that was appearing to me every day was just a woman that was finding her footing on her own and struggling through it sometimes, but also absolutely crushing it sometimes. Besides this sort of creation of her solo career, it was really a moment of self-exploration and a true kind of defining who she is as a human on her own terms. And so that became pretty clear to me. I think one scene that really crystallized that for me is the Coachella rehearsal scenes, because I saw her start to get this air of determination.
Her album did well commercially, but critically, it got some mixed reviews. And I think that bummed her out a little bit or gave her a moment of pause. And then she had to go right into getting ready for Coachella. This is like the most important show of her life. And she was dealing with lots of crises during that time period. I just saw her kind of decide, “I’m not going to let this be my story. I’m taking this in my own hands. I’m going to crush it at Coachella. I’m going to show people what I can do.” And that’s why I was like, “Oh, she’s really come into her own. She is Lisa fully formed now.” And I loved it.
One thing that I loved is that the documentary also gives a lot of space to the people around Lisa, especially her fans. Why was it important to you to tell the story of that community, too?
Sue Kim: I think because they’re so important to Lisa. I know fans are important to all artists, but Lisa’s fans are a different kind of community. I think that they are so incredible at showing her support, always showing up for her, always making sure that she feels loved wherever she is. And, you know, she says it herself in the film, like she lives off of that fan relationship. She really does everything she does for the fans. It’s just a really beautiful relationship of an artist who gives 200 percent for her fans, but her fans also take it, receive it and give it right back to her. It’s a real exchange of energy that’s so important. And so it’s part of who she is — her relationship, connection, and love for her fans. It was important to show in the film because it’s such a big part of her life.
After spending so much time with Lisa during such a transformative year, what do you hope audiences understand about her that they might not have understood before watching Always Lalisa?
Sue Kim: I think audiences maybe before they saw this film might have assumed that success was easy for Lisa or that her life is easy. I think what I hope to show is she has been building this life and going after this dream since we were all in kindergarten. From a very young age, while we were playing on the playground, she was practicing her dance routines and enrolling in competitions and trying to get better and better at what she does. And she has built this life, this career, this moment for herself for almost her entire life.
So I wanted a little context. I wanted people to understand this is not just someone who kind of lucked into this career. This was a fated career for her. And it was also the result of so much, so much, so much hard work and dedication. But I also wanted them to see the Lisa I saw, like the Lisa I was talking about earlier, where she’s just a really sweet, guileless, pure-hearted person.
And I’ve seen the kind of online terrible comments she gets sometimes. And I just think like if people saw her, they would think twice before writing them because she’s just not the person that she’s not the enemy of your bias. She’s just a lovely woman who’s very talented and spent her life working for this career.
Always Lalisa opens in IMAX and cinemas worldwide for a limited engagement beginning October 12, before streaming exclusively on YouTube Premium later this year.
