If you’ve been following Britney Spears’ efforts to get out of the conservatorship that has controlled her life for the past 13 years, you won’t be surprised by the basic themes of Netflix’s new film Britney versus Spears.

Journalist Jenny Eliscu and filmmaker Erin Lee Carr examine Britney’s quest for liberation from the conservatorship she’s been under for the past 13 years in this 90-minute documentary.

The documentary, which has Making a Murderer vibes, has been in the works for over a year and is billed by Netflix as weaving a “shocking timeline of old and new players, secret rendezvous, and Britney’s behind-the-scenes fight for her own autonomy.”

‘Text messages and a voicemail as well as new interviews with key players make clear what Britney herself has attested: the full story has yet to be told.’

The film rehashes Spears’ divorce from Kevin Federline and her period as a tabloid topic, along with unfavorable paparazzi video footage of Spears during a destabilized phase in 2007. Voices from Spears’ past, such as former manager Sam Lutfi and paparazzo ex Adnan Ghalib, take precedence, while text messages from Spears, which Ghalib gave to the producers, play onscreen. We hear a late-night phone call Spears placed in 2009 to a lawyer, begging for aid in assuring she doesn’t lose custody of her children.

Cover art for the film Britney vs Spears.
Netflix

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Court documents from Feb. 6, 2008 describe a variety of powers that the conservatorship gave to the conservators, including Spears’ father, Jamie. Conservators had the authority to gain access to all records pertaining to Spears’ estate, enter and take possession of Spears’ home (and kick people out), issue restraining orders and hire security, use Spears’ money to pay for legal fees, open and operate businesses, and hire for a variety of positions using funds from Spears’ estate.

There are several startling disclosures concerning their reporting procedure, including Eliscu’s admission that she became personally involved in the case in 2009. The writer, who had previously featured Spears for Rolling Stone magazine, collaborated with the singer’s former boyfriend/manager Sam Lutfi to smuggle legal documents into a hotel toilet for Spears to sign, demanding that a judge replace her court-appointed counsel with one of her choice.

Spears filed the January 2009 petition with the aid of Lutfi, Ghalib, and Eliscu after her unsuccessful attempt to retain Streisand as her counsel. “Britney Jean Spears has expressed her lack of confidence in her court-appointed attorney Samuel Ingham, III. Ms. Spears is of the opinion that he is not advocating adequately on her behalf particularly in light of the severe restrictions placed upon her,” the petition read. “This woman who can complete two new CDs and be set to go on a national tour has sufficient capacity, after nearly one year of a protective conservatorship, to retain counsel of her choice, and in whom she has confidence.”

A tape of Spear’s court appearance from June 2021 plays over the film at one point, in which she states, “I deserve to have the same rights as anybody does. It’s been 13 years. And it’s enough.’

The rationale provided for Britney’s unusual conservatorship arrangement, according to court records shown in the documentary, is “orders related to dementia placement.”

As the filmmakers point out, having “dementia” listed for a conservateee in their 20s – or for someone who subsequently went on to work, travel the world, and release songs – was very rare.

Britney biographer Lorilee Craker says, “Something I don’t believe has been portrayed correctly is the level of crisis when the conservatorship began.”

The crisis? At the time, her manager and handler was Sam Lufti. Craker alleges he was “crushing drugs, putting them in her food, and bragging about it,” which Lufti, who was also questioned for the documentary, strongly refutes. He claims, “I was the perfect scapegoat to get this (conservatorship) done.”

A cinematographer who met Spears while shooting on an MTV special reads a letter she composed and sent him in the hopes that he would read it on TV. Ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib, a former paparazzi photographer, displays messages proving how much Spears despised the conservancy.

Britney had a new fiancee, talent agent Jason Trawick, by 2012. He appeared in the music video for her song Criminal, and Britney requested that he be appointed as a conservator for her. The conservatorship was “in chaos” at the time, according to documents, since Britney had signed a multimillion-dollar agreement to be a judge on The X Factor. The medical panel evaluating her for conservatorship recommended that she not take the job, but Britney’s management refused.

Her conservancy, which is separated into two parts: control over her person and authority over her wealth, is also explained in detail in the documentary.

In the video, Tony Chicotel, a probate conservatorship attorney, states, “We have very particular standards for conservatorship: You have to be unable to meet your needs for food, clothing and shelter. Let me put it this way: I’ve represented dozens of conservatees in court. Not one of them has ever had a job.”

On September 28, Britney vs. Spears will premiere on Netflix, one day before her next court appearance.