And while his life story is ripe for the telling—a starving artist who dreams of changing musical theater and does so but passes away just before he can see his dream become a reality—that isn’t the tale Tick,Tick . . . Boom! tells. It’s more of an origin story for Rent, based on a one-man musical written and performed by Larson himself. And, as the film’s opening narration says, “Everything is true . . . except for the parts Jonathan made up.”

In Tick, Tick . . . Boom!, Larson (played by Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield) shares the stresses he’s under preparing for a first reading of a musical he’s been working on for eight years (not Rent), his best friend and roommate Michael (Robin de Jesus) moving out of the dumpy downtown NYC apartment they share, and his girlfriend Susan (Alexandra Shipp) looking to move out of the city and settle down. Oh, and he’s about to turn 30 and still hasn’t made a name for himself on Broadway, unlike his hero Stephen Sondheim (Bradley Whitford).

The film moves between a stage version of the musical—which includes Larson, a small band, and two singers, Roger (Joshua Henry) and Karessa (Vanessa Hudgens)—and his life at the time, juggling the pressures of his creative and personal life with shifts at the Moondance Diner to scrape a living together until he hits it big.

Garfield is a marvel and deserves all the attention and awards love he’s receiving. He’s no stranger to Broadway, having won a Tony for the play Angels in America in 2018. But he admits he had no deep knowledge of Larson prior to this film, and that keeps his performance from being a star-eyed tribute. His Larson is charming and talented but also so driven that he’s often blind to everything else happening around him.

The film’s director, Lin-Manuel Miranda—yes, of Hamilton fame and composer for seemingly every Disney animated film of late (including Encanto)—knows quite a bit about the business of Broadway and what it takes to break through. Having been deeply influenced by Rent and Larson, he’s the perfect person to tell this story, which is clearly important to him—and it shows in the care he’s taken to present it.

Thanks to Miranda’s well-connected address book. two scenes feature cameos from Broadway’s best. In one—a musical number at the diner where Larson works—stage stars from the ’60s through today harass Larson for brunch, including Miranda himself along with fellow Hamilton alums Phillipa Soon and Renee Elise Goldsberry. In  the other, Larson is presenting his songs in a workshop where the class is made up of some of Broadway’s biggest writers, composers, and producers. (You can read up on who’s who here.)

Miranda works in several homages to Rent, including the answering machine “beep!,” Larson riding his bike past the Cat Scratch Club (where one of the characters worked), Jonathan lighting a candle while speaking with his girlfriend in the dark, and a rooftop scene where numbers on a nearby building add up to 525,600. (Anyone who knows the song “Seasons of Love” just sang that number instead of reading it.)

All of that is fantastic for theater fans but what if you could care less? Tick, Tick . . . Boom! still has you with a gripping, well-paced story of a frustrated artist trying to decide whether to give it all up or keep on trying. That we already know what Larson chooses doesn’t make the story any less compelling, and knowing how little time he has left only adds to the urgency, punctuated throughout by the sounds of a persistently ticking second hand.

Shot in 7K resolution, Tick’s transfer is taken from a 4K digital intermediate. On paper, this should translate into truly stunning image quality but it didn’t feel like the Netflix stream was able to deliver on all of its visual potential. It looked more like it was shot on film than having the hyper-clear sharpness and detail of video, and often felt more like I was watching a 1080p Blu-ray. One scene that really delivered, though, was the haunting ballad “Why?,” which was beautifully shot in the empty Delacorte Theater in Central Park. It hits you right in the feels, and the image quality has great depth and sharpness, letting you clearly see the sharp lines of the theater and count the rows of seats.

The HDR grade isn’t overly aggressive, with the focus on making natural, lifelike images with good depth and shadow detail. We do get some nice highlights of bright sunlight streaming in through windows, glowing street lights and lamps, and white-hot stage lighting. 

Of course, a musical is only as good as its songs. Fortunately, Larson knew how to write a good rock song, Garfield knows how to deliver them, and Miranda knows how to handle the multi-layered delivery. The Dolby Atmos track makes the music the worthy star of this performance. Audio is kept across the front, except when the musical numbers begin; then the soundstage expands, filling the room with the score, occasionally placing some vocals out in the surround channels. The mix also gives a bit of ambience to other scenes, such as the spaciousness and echoes in the open rehearsal room where the reading happens or street noises in the city. Don’t expect a lot of action out of your subwoofer, though it does come to life courtesy of some drums.  

“I’m the future of musical theater,” Larson tells one obnoxious party-goer. Unfortunately, he didn’t live to see the truth of that statement. All in all, this is an encouraging directorial debut from Miranda and another star turn for Garfield, making it an easy recommendation the next time you’re wondering what to watch on Netflix.