It begins with wary glances inside a nondescript warehouse in the nether regions of London and ends with hugs and high fives in front of tens of thousands of fans at stadiums across the world. The return of Oasis in 2025 was always going to be accompanied by a film, andDon’t Look Back In Angeropens in cinemas this week before streaming on Disney Plus. Directed by Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern, whose credits include documentaries on LCD Soundsystem, The Strokes and, gulp, Blur,Don’t Look Back In Angeris a concert film and celebration of fandom, but mostly it’s about Noel and Liam and their inevitable (but let’s pretend it’s not) reunion.
The film draws as much drama out of the situation as possible, beginning with whistlestop archive footage documenting the band’s rise and fall. This was “unacceptable”, says Noel, who then claims, vaingloriously, that “the world went to shit” after Oasis split, over shots of Covid, terrorist attacks, wars, wildfires, Putin, Trump and a cascade of gurning British Prime Ministers. At no point do we find out what caused the final seismic row, how cordial relations were re-established and who reached out to who. A fan tells us it was like “losing a child”, while Noel insists that the reunion is about the “chance to change the narrative of the band”. No pressure, then.
We then cut to the rehearsal space, where Noel and the rest of the band, unnamed except for Bonehead, who is finally acknowledged about two-thirds of the way through, are preparing for the shows. The mic stand is unfilled. No Liam. Will he arrive? An ominous drumbeat, dramatic shots of the closed door, a cut to Noel’s strained face… until finally Liam bustles into the room with a grin and a volley of four-letter words as he gets down to business. But the situation is still uncomfortable, with Liam spending the barest minimum of time in the room and failing to interact with any of the musicians, his brother included. That only changes as they walk on stage before the first gig in Cardiff, when Liam spontaneously grabs his brother’s hand and lifts it to the sky. It’s the first moment of real affection between the two, and that becomes a motif for the film as hand-in-hand the pair enter stages at stadiums across Europe, Asia and the US. As the tour progresses, the siblings get more touchy-feely; their respective children get to meet for the first time as they drink their way across the world, and by the close we are led to believe that Noel and Liam have never been closer.
With the backstage drama dispelled,Don’t Look Back In Angersettles down into a more conventional concert film. A pattern is quickly established, courtesy of the film’s writer, Stephen Knight. We meet fans, often younger ones, who talk about the importance of certain songs in their lives: the mother of a nonverbal child, two Korean divers, some Argentinian football supporters, a witness to the Manchester Arena bombing, before we get a supercut of that song performed at various gigs, sometimes spliced with archive footage. These stories are often less compelling than the footage of fans themselves, who are beautifully shot before, during and after gigs looking excited, ecstatic, shellshocked, exhausted, emotionally drained and sometimes simply drunk.
We also have running commentary from Liam and Noel, whose preternatural self-confidence is now leavened with the merest hint of self-awareness. Liam delivers several great lines. “It takes a lot of caring to not give a fuck,” he explains at one point about his insouciant approach to his art, while Noel pronounces, to his own amazement, that Liam has been “delightful”. Much is made of the band being “working class heroes”; nothing at all is said about ticket prices, as Noel struggles to articulate the political philosophy of the band.
For fans watching the film, that will scarcely matter asDon’t Look Back In Angeris ultimately a sugar-coated headrush and celebration of life akin to the best of Oasis’s music. Punchy and anthemic, the songs make perfect fodder for a singalong concert film, while the awesome sound and exceptional cinematography demand attention. That seems apt, as the songs are the ultimate stars of the show, something even Liam is happy to accept. “He deserves it and the songs deserve it,” he says as he contemplates the success of the band’s return. With another tour on the cards for 2027, that begs one question. Will there be any new songs to join the old? Like Liam and Noel’s reunion, that feels unstoppable.