‘RM: Right People, Wrong Place’ review: An insight into RM’s music, artistry and the making of an album

RM in ‘Right People Wrong Place’

The music video for RM’s song ‘Lost’, from his album ‘Right Place, Wrong Person’, begins with a poster that says, “Inside Namjoon’s head”. We soon find ourselves transported into a maze, to a chat show called ‘The Lost Show’ starring RM, as he navigates long corridors that lead nowhere, workplace drudgery, and the feeling of being stuck in a crowded elevator. 

There is a constant refrain that indicates a duality, or a dichotomy of sorts throughout his film RM: Right People, Wrong Place that encompasses RM, the leader of the massively popular South Korean seven-member group BTS, and Kim Namjoon, who wants to immerse himself into all that his music has to offer as he goes about making his second solo album.  

Over the years, we’ve seen the release of several concert films that chronicle the journey of a musician from the recording room to the stage. RM’s film RM: Right People, Wrong Place however is more of a documentary, one that follows him and his team through the eight-month-long production of his album. The result? We get more than a peek behind the curtain; into the music, the process, the camaraderie, and the musician himself as he goes through the motions of becoming a storyteller. The documentary premiered at the Busan International Film Festival last year and has had a limited release across the world since. This weekend, it was released in India. 

“I’m the icon of ups and downs,” RM jokingly says to the camera, speaking about how he has been feeling over the past few months. Through the film, he remains his most candid and vulnerable self, often reflecting on his ten-year career in the limelight. It isn’t hard to see where this album, hailed among his most real and reflective music yet, came from. The 11-track album featured on several year-end lists recognising the best music of the year, and was Billboard’s best K-Pop album of 2024. The album itself, with songs such as ‘Groin’, ‘Heaven’, ‘Around the World in a Day’, and ‘Domodachi’, is an interesting mix of genres and styles from hip-hop and R&B to jazz and afrobeats. 

There’s immense joy that radiates from the screen, in the musician’s creative process as he works on the lyrics, the videos, and different aspects of the album with a close-knit group of collaborators he calls Team RM. Prominently featured among them is San Yawn of the Korean music group Balming Tiger. We follow the team as they head to a quiet, secluded place away from Seoul to lie in the fields and listen to the raw recordings of the new songs, and to the outskirts of Tokyo for a photoshoot for the album.

There are countless hours spent in cramped apartments and studios brainstorming lyrics and in high-end studios recording and collaborating with artists including rapper Little Simz, and a photoshoot with Wing Shya, a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Wong Kar Wai. “I feel like the star of a Wong Kar Wai film,” RM says, visibly thrilled to be working with the photographer. Over the years, much has been written about RM’s interest in art and books, and it is interesting to see his choice of collaborators. Among them is Lee Sung Jin, who created the critically acclaimed Netflix series Beef. He directed the music video for the song ‘Come Back to Me’. 

While his team talks about his unique vocals and how they work on preserving it, their interviews never come off as overly evangelising him. It instead discusses aspects of his artistry and his process we know so little of. RM himself explains the process best, and talks about how he enjoyed not having too many eyes on him when they shot and filmed the pictures and the songs. 

RM says while working on ‘Right Place, Wrong Person‘ that it feels like the first time in a while he is existing as himself. The beautifully shot documentary will no doubt be an important archive to reflect back on the time that his solo album came together.  

RM: Right People, Wrong Place is currently running in theatres