‘In Whose Name?’ Review: A Kanye Documentary Lost in Magnitude

In Whose Name? is the latest Kanye West documentary, but a unique one, as it is the directorial debut of Nico Ballesteros, who shot the film over the course of six years, filming in top secret with permission from West, whilst only being 18 years old. Despite his age, the debut has been touted as a billion-dollar budgeted documentary, making it the most extensive Kanye documentary from a financial standpoint.

From the very opening of the film, you can tell it’s not like a usual documentary, and while many use this description to applaud other films, this documentary certainly does not attract such praise. The documentary chooses to portray the artist with a huge magnitude, almost coming across like a Denis Villeneuve in scale, crossed with the editing of George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, but without the sauce of those two gargantuan filmmakers. Even then, you can see the inner workings of Nico Ballesteros mind as he opted to portray this huge artist in this huge way, but in doing this, he forgot to focus on what is maybe the most important part of a documentary focusing on a person— life. In Whose Name? feels lifeless at its core, even with the huge personality of Kanye West at its centre, which I think speaks to the quality of the film.

Yet, with the film’s billion-dollar budget and decades of footage, it’s engaging to trace the timeline of West’s career and the countless celebrity cameos, who they are in relation to him, and the frankly profound things they have to say about him. The documentary is at its best in framing his fame and the magnitude of his career in relation to his fans, family, and loved ones. Oh, and there is a frankly nuts moment early on in the film in which assassinated political personality Charlie Kirk has a conversation with the rapper, which for brainrot reasons made me laugh out loud.

As a documentary, this feels aimless, failing to tie together a vision or a theme, which seems honestly baffling in the context of an artist such as this, embroiled in such controversy, in such tragedy, and in such purpose. To me, that makes the lack of experience obvious in Nico Ballesteros’ career, made further clearer in the context of the filmmaker being incredibly young.

That being said, I do think the message I took away from this is that Kanye is as easily influenced as he is the influencer, with the way he feels seen in the public eye, his strong standing in doing what his heart desires, to even the hateful rhetoric he has previously spouted. It’s an interesting thought, especially given his power in the industry, though it is more than likely an unintended one but it does make the viewer question the morals of a mentally imbalanced man, how much of his spoken views are truly his own views, and whether or not the creative outlet of performance art is a valid platform to give to someone like this.

In Whose Name? is not a totally wasted venture, as it serves incredibly well as a look into the life of West, just not through an analytical or a documentarian lens, despite its format. This is far from a must-watch, but it is far from an uninteresting one, and for that reason, I recommend it as additional (but not essential) viewing for any Kanye fan.

In Whose Name? is directed by Nico Ballesteros and features Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk, Candace Owens, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Sean Combs, Pharrell Williams, Playboi Carti, David Letterman, Michael Che, LeBron James, Chris Rock, and many more. The film was released in theatres on September 19, 2025, via AMSI Entertainment in partnership with AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, and Cinemark Theatres.

Up next for Ballesteros is a YoungBoy Never Broke Again documentary film due out April 22, 2026.

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