The film has been described as an unvarnished and emotionally revealing look at Swift, during a metamorphic phase in her life, as she learns to accept her role as not only a singer-songwriter and entertainer, but as an influential woman "harnessing the full power of her voice."

It is set in the time period spanning from Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) to the release roll-out of her seventh studio album Lover (2019), dotted with flashback video clips portraying several undisclosed events of her life and career.

It focuses on sensitive subjects that Swift often avoided in interviews, such as her past battle with body dysmorphia and eating disorder, her mother's cancer diagnosis, the toxic Internet culture and media scrutiny she faces, her sexual assault trial, and decision to go public with her political views, including LGBTQ+ allyship.

[1][2][3] Netflix described the film as a "raw and emotionally revealing look" at Swift "during a transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer, but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice".

[4] The Sundance Institute outlined: "Director Lana Wilson offers a multifaceted window into Swift, her creative process, and her singular experience of being one of the brightest lights on the world's global stage.

Showcasing Swift's trademark vulnerability and her fierce intelligence and wit, Wilson captures moments both tender and exhilarating as the superstar embarks on the latest chapter of her already extraordinary career.

"[5] Additionally, the archive footages used in the documentary feature record producer Calvin Harris, singers Beyoncé, P!nk, Selena Gomez, Harry Styles, Shakira and Lenny Kravitz, music bands Dixie Chicks and Earth Wind & Fire, model Kim Kardashian, rapper Kanye West, US politicians Marsha Blackburn and Donald Trump, actors Taylor Lautner and Tom Hiddleston, drag queens Jade Jolie and Riley Knoxx, television personalities Barbara Walters, Dan Harris, David Letterman, Erin Robinson, Graham Norton, Hoda Kotb, Jedediah Bila, Jenny Johnson, Jimmy Fallon, JuJu Chang, Nancy O'Dell, Nikki Glaser, Phil McGraw, Sara Haines, Stephen Colbert, Sunny Hostin, Whoopi Goldberg, and the entire "Fab 5" cast of Queer Eye: Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness and Tan France.

I needed to get to a point where I was ready, able and willing to call out bullshit rather than just smiling my way through it.The documentary includes the song "Only the Young", playing during the end credits, which was released as a promotional single alongside the film.

[12] Upon release, the song received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised its politically charged lyrics that deal with gun violence and school shootings in the United States.

[14] In an interview with Chris Willman of Variety, it was revealed that the opening act of the film deals with "juxtaposing the joys of creation with the aggravations of global stardom" while the second half is a "provocative turn focused on why Swift became a political animal".

The site's critics consensus reads: "Miss Americana provides an engaging if somewhat deliberately opaque backstage look at a pop star turned cultural phenomenon.

[21] Miss Americana has been described as an intimate, genuine, funny and empowering film, documenting "her humble beginnings as a country-music star to her position as an influential figure in pop culture".

Wesley Morris of The New York Times chose Miss Americana as his Critic's Pick, describing it as "85 minutes of translucence" with Swift, stating that she is "self-critical, grown up and ready, perhaps, to deliver a message beyond the music".

[24] Hannah Woodhead of Little White Lies said the film offers "unprecedented access to the notoriously private singer and her dizzying world" through "interviews, studio footage, home videos and concert recordings".

[26] Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "what's ultimately very endearing about Swift is her intelligence and self-awareness, qualities that also make her music compelling, sophisticated and capable of appealing both to adolescent kids and hipster musicologists".

[29] The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber wrote that Miss Americana portrays "a pop star facing a daunting challenge—redefining success", acting as "a container for the dictates of supposedly meritocratic capitalist patriarchy".

[30] Decider's Anna Menta commented that "Wilson and her team captured moments that felt personal, vulnerable, and deeply authentic, and they did so with a skill and artistry that Instagram Live stories just can't match".

[34] In his Critic's Pick review, IndieWire's David Ehrlich wrote that the power of Miss Americana is "watching someone who stands astride the world gradually realize that her art is the only thing that she can control", adding that Wilson is excellent at "splitting the difference that some of her documentary's most humanizing moments are beautiful for how they contradict Swift's intention".

He concluded that "it's truly enough to make you feel like an asshole for ever thinking that Swift was some kind of Aryan crypto-fascist, and not just a mega-famous young woman who didn't yet love herself enough to be hated for her convictions".

[39] Variety's Owen Gleiberman opined that the documentary is "a controlled and sanded-off confection of pop-diva image management", where Swift "presents of herself is just chancy and sincere enough" in the film "to draw us in".

TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino stated that, "in nearly a decade of attending Sundance, I've never seen a scene like the premiere of Miss Americana", and added that the "crowd before letting into the theater was huge", with rumors about how "there wouldn't be room for ticketed attendees".

She explained that Swift's leadership is commercially savvy, but also shows how celebrities "can now speak directly to fans, doing tremendous good in the process", and concluded that the singer is sending a powerful message—"one that is likely to save lives in myriad ways".

[91] In a Deccan Chronicle piece titled "Warring with food", writer Swati Sharma noted "it's no surprise" that many celebrities like Swift have struggled with eating disorders, and highlighted how the singer would be "so hungry after performances that she'd feel weak and on the verge of passing out".

It's just so moving.In an article titled "Why women say sorry too much and what to say — and do — instead" for Australian Broadcasting Corporation, writer Kate Midena highlighted the moment from Miss Americana when Swift speaks about her struggle to "deprogram the misogyny in [her] own brain."

In the apology, Glaser stated that: "Unfortunately, I am featured in her [Swift's] new documentary as part of a montage of asshats saying mean things about her, which is used to explain why she felt the need to escape from the spotlight for a year", and admitted that her comments may have come from a place of "projection".

[100] As per Vox, the songwriting footages in Miss Americana shaped the image of Swift's musicianship in the following years, from being viewed as a mere popstar to an expert singer-songwriter, further bolstered by her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore.

[102] IndieWire credited Miss Americana for paving a way for singers to utilize major streaming platforms to eventize tour footages into intimate, candid films, to complement their careers.

"[114][117] Blackburn added that Swift "would be the first victim of that because when you look at Marxist socialistic societies, they do not allow women to dress or sing or be on stage or to entertain or the type of music she would have.

Representative Eric Swalwell revealed that Swift authorized the usage of the song for the campaign free-of-cost, marking the first time she has allowed her music to be used in a political advertisement.

The rest of the advertisement features a montage of scenes from the past four years in the U.S: videos of Me Too and Black Lives Matter protesters, president Donald Trump removing his face mask following COVID-19 hospitalization, judge Amy Coney Barrett being sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, a 75-year-old protester being pushed to the ground by police in Buffalo, New York, and a scene of young supporters of Biden organizing and taking part in early voting.