By BRUCE DENNILL
Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger / Directed by Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern / 16L
The 2025 Oasis reunion world tour was, in many respects, a surprise success – not in terms of ticket sales, but in the ability of the famously (now almost to the point of cliché) bristly Gallagher brothers to put past differences aside and get back down to the business of playing much-loved songs very loudly and in so doing making hundreds of thousands of people very happy indeed.
This behind-the-scenes documentary-cum-concert film has, unsurprisingly, Liam and Noel’s professional and, ultimately, emotional reunion at its heart, and both men remain acutely aware of how the combination of their personalities matters to both their band and their brand. And yet, the project never ventures close to hagiography, thanks largely to a somewhat flipped script when it comes to the roles the brothers play in this, to paraphrase Noel in the film, “fixing of the narrative.”
Noel is clearly the mastermind behind the whole Oasis project – he writes and arranges the songs; he marshalls the rehearsals and exactly who does what and where; and he is the less volatile of the siblings. But the expected story in this film – after opening sequences that remind viewers what happened in the past and, frankly, how annoying all of that was for committed fans, a group that numbered many millions at the time – takes a twist when Liam, who is happy to admit to have been a total yob at many points of his career shows himself to be, without being particularly cheery, a focused, prepared professional. When he combines that with his X-factor frontman spark and some knowingly Hollywood stage gestures, it becomes clear, again, just how important he is to the formula.
Both brothers exhibit, both when filmed in performance and in individual and shared interviews (the latter something that now appears to bring joy rather than being showcases for snarky aggression) a great deal of self-awareness. They know what their fame and achievements mean in terms of making this new project work. But they are also able to understand and process that what happens is not exactly – or in some cases, even remotely – what they expected, and they no longer need to pretend that they’re in control of everything, which seems to lift a great deal of weight off their collective shoulders.
Noel’s clear bewilderment at the scale of the adoration for the band and the continuing meaning of the music for audiences who were babies when Oasis’ star started to wane is rather moving, notably because he makes no effort to hide it. And Liam’s ability – and clear willingness – to take point in connecting with the audience and be an authoritative presence – is initially unexpected and then hugely welcome and effective.
The film’s script is by Stephen Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders and thus intimately acquainted with making belligerent, swaggering protagonists seem human and authentic, and along with directors Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern, he brings into the narrative a number of diversions from the performances and Gallagher-focused threads, all of which show examples of how Oasis and their many, many hit songs have affected, and continue to affect, individuals, families and communities all over from the world, from their beloved Manchester to hugely passionate fans in Brazil and beyond.
There is little or no effort made to investigate why the band’s influence remains so powerful or why the age profile of the audiences on this tour is so unexpectedly young. The music, played live – and the deafening, whole-hearted response to it from the stadium – does most of the talking here. It’s irresistible, even if you weren’t much of a fan before watching the fan. And it gives the film as a whole an undeniable feel-good tone: you may not personally buy into the potty-mouthed lad culture that’s still a foundational element of the band and the Gallaghers’ background, but it’s impossible to deny the joy felt by a community who all want to be in the same place for the same reason – to celebrate shared experiences and emotions through music.
The ticket pricing issues that angered untold thousands are not even obliquely referred to, and it’s impossible to ignore the likelihood that there is much that is not quite as buoyant that didn’t make it into the film and which has probably followed the tour once all the ecstasy and momentum died down. But while you’re in the cinema and focusing only on what is unfolding onscreen, this is big, brash, brassy and beautiful. You’ll spend at least part of time grinning like an idiot and you’re guaranteed to be singing one of Noel’s catchy choruses as you leave.