Don't Look Back In Anger, directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace and scripted by Steven Knight, is a warm and affectionate roll call of stadium moments. It opens with how Oasis dominated the 1990s with hits such as Wonderwall and Roll With It, then documents the abrupt end to the original line-up after a backstage brawl in Paris in 2009. Fan-shot footage captures a promoter telling the crowd the gig was cancelled after "a huge fight together in the dressing room." Scottish singer Amy Macdonald, who was on the bill that night, tweeted that "Liam smashed Noel's guitar, huuuge fight!"
Yet the film declines to investigate the confrontation or its fallout. It skips an explanation of who initiated the reconciliation and offers no sustained look at the toll the rupture took on the family. Instead, the narrative cuts to rehearsals ahead of the comeback tour, with a caption noting the brothers went years without speaking and an implication the wounds have mostly healed.
Rehearsal scenes supply character detail, including a grumpy Liam arriving late and complaining about soundproofing panels, "They're already giving me the hump," before relaxing onstage. A Liam voice-over frames his approach to the tour, "If you're not on it, chaos can ensue," and he says he has given up cigarettes and alcohol for the run. Noel also reflects on reconciliation, saying, "The little things that used to annoy us about each other have all gone away," and later admits the scale of fans' feeling hit him hard, "The gravity hit me of what it meant to people and it took me by surprise."
The film excels at the live experience. Cardiff's reunion night arrives early in the running time and the cameras then follow shows in Dublin, Manchester, Sao Paulo, Tokyo and New York, capturing ecstatic crowds and intimate fan testimonies, from a woman who named her dog Bonehead to a South Korean free-diver who credits the band's music with pulling her out of depression. The live sound is praised throughout, and Liam's voice is consistently strong.
Structurally the documentary falters. By treating the Cardiff reunion as an early climax, the remainder of the film repeats similar concert scenes without offering new narrative depth. It touches on broader themes, including a Manchester survivor reflecting on Don’t Look Back In Anger as an anthem of resilience, but sidesteps harder questions such as Liam's criticisms of his brother during the mourning period after the bombing. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and the band are rumoured to be planning a second leg of the comeback tour next year. As a celebration of fandom the movie succeeds, as an interrogation of the band’s break and reunion it disappoints.
