OSCARS 2026: Diane Warren: Relentless (2025)

To most people aware of such things, Diane Warren is one of the most successful song writers of all time. She has penned number one hits for Celine Dion, Aerosmith, Toni Braxton, Chicago, Brandy, and, uh, Milli Vanilli. She has provided songs for some of the biggest pop stars of all time, like Beyonce, Cher, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Taylor Swift. Her extremely deep catalogue ranges from R&B to bubblegum pop, hard rock, and the occasional alternative radio track. One indicator of success that has eluded Miss Warren is an Academy Award. Her penchant for weepy ballads has scored her 17 nominations for Best Original Song but not a single win. For nearly the last decade, the Academy has annually put her within sniffing distance of an Oscar but – save for an honorary statue in 2022, which clearly nobody thinks counts – never awarded her one. This has resulted in some extremely questionable titles earning the prestige of a nomination. Which I, in my drive to watch all the nominees every year, have forced myself to watch. Warren is herself the topic of 2026's Obligatory Diane Warren Nomination, "Diane Warren: Relentless." Of course, she penned a song for it. Of course, it is nominated and, of course, I watched it. Ah shit, here we go again. 

"Relentless" tracks Warren's life and career. It follows her childhood in suburban Van Nuys, where her obsession with music was born. Her mom wanted her to become a secretary but her dad always believed in her. Despite a frequently combative personality, a good deal of social awkwardness, and not being much of a singer herself, Warren became a hit maker. "Relentless" interviews friends and collaborators, follows her daily routine, covers her personal struggles, and eventually zeroes in on her repeated inability to finally win that damn little gold man.

 

"Relentless" is, in many ways, your standard biographical documentary. Home movies and vintage photographs are cut together with peeks into Warren's current life and a retrospective of most of her big hits. Director Bess Kargman employs genre cliches like taking Warren back to her childhood home and tracking down old friends and relatives. Famous faces rave about her talent but "Relentless" does stop just short of pure hagiography by acknowledging her quirks and flaws. Such as her potty mouth and being a pain in the ass to work with. Once the topic turns towards the Academy's unwillingness to give her a win, "Relentless" reveals its true reason for existing. Her indefatigable excitement at being nominated and disappointment at losing is showcased. The climax of "Relentless" is the creation of "Dear Me," the Kesha sung number that got the movie nominated. In other words, the documentary is a ninety minute For Your Consideration ad, aimed at convincing Academy members that the perpetual runner-up really deserves a win. 

A rich, famous, and very successful person being sad that they don't have one more trophy to add to their mantle is not the most universal of motivations for making a movie. The makers of “Relentless” were clearly aware that the question of “Why should anyone give a shit?” needed an answer. The documentary cycles through the usual narrative of Warren having a difficult childhood, an impossible to please parent, and struggling to establish herself in the L.A. music scene. Since “Relentless” is as focused on Warren's current life as her past, however, it can't build that into a compelling story arc. There's a lot of mention of Diane's disapproving mother but this thread is mysteriously dropped with a half-hearted admission that the elder Warren eventually got over it. There's a pause to acknowledge the recent death of her beloved cat. Which is sad, sure, but not something you can really build a whole movie around. 

The decision the film finally settles on centers around is questionable. Warren wrote the Lady Gaga anthem “Till It Happens to You” from sexual assault awareness documentary, “The Hunting Ground.” During the press tour for the movie, the songwriter admitted that she herself is a victim of childhood sexual abuse. That takes courage to admit, especially publically. I'm a survivor myself, so I understand. However, the film spinning that bravery as the main reason Warren should have won an Oscar strikes me as distasteful. Especially as the doc pontificates more on how Warren is still trying to get the make-up award for that loss. Yeah, Lady Gaga belted it out at the ceremony. Sure, I think “Till It Happens to You” is a better song than the crappy Bond theme it lost to. But is this movie trying to guilt me into voting for “Dear Me?” As if winning an Oscar would resolve the trauma of Warren's assault? You sure that's the point you wanna make? What are we doing here, movie? 

This marks an exploration of the life and process of a clearly talented person – presumably the reason we watch docs like this – as a secondary goal to “Diane Warren: Relentless'” real purpose: Declaring that its subject really, really needs that fucking Oscar. Which leaves us with a documentary that is a wispy ode to its subject's ego and not much else. Kargman does give us peeks into more humanizing parts of Warren's life. We learn about her love for animals, which includes a ranch home to rescued donkeys and pigs. She talks about her status as a neurodivergent individual. I'm one of those too and I recognize a reliance on structure, lack of a filter, and hyperfocus on passions in Warren. A few scenes discuss her continued lack of a love life and how that reflects on her ability to write love songs that resonate with so many people. That could have been a really interesting topic! Alas, “Relentless” knows that it will be mostly watched by Academy voters and zeroes in on convincing them to vote for its song. 

Unfortunately, “Diane Warren: Relentless” had the misfortune to come out during the same year as “KPop Demon Hunters.” “Dear Me” isn't bad. It's easily the seventh best version of this same song that Warren has had a hand in making. It's not going to beat “Golden” though. If a genuine musical pop culture phenomenon hadn't come out in 2025, Diane's latest teary ode to self-actualization would still probably come in behind “Sinners'” “I Lied to You.” I say that all of this is unfortunate because it guarantees at least one more year of some random-ass thing getting a nom strictly because Warren wrote a song for it. They made an entire movie to win her an Oscar and it'll all be for naught. And if she does somehow won, will Diane pivot towards being obsessed with winning a Tony and filling out her EGOT score card? She does have a jukebox musical hitting stages soon. I guess they'll have to make a “Relentless II” for that. Her suffering is truly never ending. I repeat this joke with a sigh: See ya next year, Diane. [5/10]