In her documentary, Peaches Goes Bananas, director Marie Losier traces the evolution of musician and performance artist Peaches (Merrill Nisker), from her early life to her status as a boundary-pushing queer feminist icon. The film opens with Peaches on film, reading slam poetry on a vaginoplasty. Her words shift onto the stage where she performs nearly nude, with her band—also nearly nude—performing in front of a packed house. It’s punk rock, everyone is on their feet, and singing along.
Before the show in her dressing room, Peaches quietly reflects on her career, discussing her changing body over time, the physical demands of touring, and the raw energy that has defined her work for two decades. The documentary moves between concert stages, private creative sessions, and Peaches’ family life, revealing the close relationships that have shaped her journey. Peaches speaks openly about her parents, her artistic influences, and her bond with her sister Suri, whose struggle with multiple sclerosis is a meaningful thread throughout the film. Home movies, news clips, and concert footage showcase Peaches’ experimental process, featuring costumes, movement, and sound.
Throughout the doc, Peaches and Losier find themselves in the largest, most vibrant cities in the world — New York, Toronto, Geneva, and Berlin, where she currently calls home. The film traces Peaches’ creative process and reflects on her longevity as a performer and her ongoing drive to challenge expectations through art.
Director Marie Losier describes her inspiration for Peaches Goes Bananas as something that emerged naturally over time, which gave her a unique approach to telling Peaches’ story. She says her filmmaking process is rooted in time — relationships deepen, and stories reveal themselves gradually. It’s Peaches’ openness, energy, and lifelong commitment to performance that made her an artist worth following (“I relate to people through my camera, and I think that’s what makes the process organic”). Over the course of seventeen years, Peaches’ physicality becomes central to the film’s themes: the body as a site of expression, the interplay between performance and identity, the bonds of family, and the way art documents a life in motion (“Time is essential… these little moments become like a ballet for me, or like little paintings of life,” Losier notes).
“Losier traces the evolution of musician and performance artist Peaches…from her early life to her status as a boundary-pushing queer feminist icon.”
I’ve never heard of Peaches in my life, but it’s hard not to be taken in by the spectacle of her live concerts and the quiet, peacefulness of her personal life off tour. Director Losier mixes more than our fair share of concert footage with intimate moments at home. She draws from extensive 16mm footage and Peaches’ own personal archives, giving the documentary a personal feel like no other. Losier captures the artist’s constant reinvention, her playful yet confrontational stage presence, and her commitment to exploring her gender and sexual identity through music, performance, and persona.
First, the concerts. They are a joy to watch. A musical full of fans on their feet singing along to every song, including the iconic “F**k the Pain Away.” Then there’s the nudity, manic motions, and the vagina and boob costumes. It’s a celebration of queer feminism and is worth watching at least once.
On the tail end of Peaches’ touring career (clearly, she’s not stopping), decades on the road have truly grounded her, making her reflective of fame and her role in it. All the things that ground her are in the documentary, including her boyfriend, bandmates, and most importantly, her parents and sister.
Peaches Goes Bananas is one of the weirdest and most touching music documentaries I’ve seen. It’s gratifying not to see yet another story of an artist who succumbs to the foibles of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll.
"…the nudity, manic motions, and the vagina and boob costumes."
