After obliterating records this past summer, worldwide pop star and cultural icon Taylor Swift finally makes her silver screen debut with The Eras Tour, a sensory smashing recording of her acclaimed Eras Tour stadium show now playing in movie theatres.
Taylor Swift’s fusion of stadium concert and cinema is a tremendous amount of fun, and fans will be thrilled with the fantastic set list offered in the show. As a film and arts writer, I expect this film will only continue the North American dominance Swift and her new show have locked on both music and popular culture over the last several months.
Overall, even casual fans or those simply interested in experiencing the show so many are talking about will enjoy the Eras Tour movie.
The only unlikable part of the experience, surprisingly, is the tour’s alienation from the camera that amplifies the jealousy of fans watching the movie after being priced out of attending the show for real.
For anyone who’s been living under a rock all year, Eras Tour is Swift’s latest stadium show, featuring at least one song from all of her albums from the last 17 years of her career. The show is presented in ten acts, each mainly focused on one of her unique albums and their unique musical and visual styles.
This is actually Taylor’s sixth movie based on her writing and performing, including two music films, two documentaries, and a short film she directed last year. But Eras Tour is surprisingly her first venture on the big screen, premiering as a true Hollywood production.
Swift is undeniably a multitalented songwriter, instrumentalist, dancer, singer and performer, but comparing her nearly dozen albums side by side, despite her variety of genres, only pop is consistent among them all. And by its big, splashy production, this is unquestionably a high-calibre pop concert; there’s no room for debate on this one.
The greatest benefit from seeing Eras Tour as a film, instead of attending the concert in person, is that the close-up camera shots of the L.A. show offers unbeatably clear pictures of watching Taylor, the artist, as she’s performing her history-making concert.
It’s also compelling watching Taylor’s terrific backup dancers up close so we, the film audience, can appreciate their technical and artistic skill up close. The same goes for admiring the impressive set, props, and live musicians up close.
But let’s be real: the audience wants to see the star herself. Swift is clearly in uncompromising command and control of her in-person audience, though I was surprised to see her move fluidly between basking in her power over the crowd during some moments and other times quite sincerely sharing her gratitude from the audience’s adoration.
As epic as the concert film is, its runtime is still more than an hour shorter than that actual concert, and even afterwards I couldn’t help wonder what are the songs, scenes and elements missing from the cinematic version.
Ultimately, that sense of longing to really be attending the concert my only valid criticism of the otherwise excellent show. After finishing the movie, there was a tiny, lingering feeling of isolation that the film is merely an incomplete version of the superior, in-person event.
It’s so captivatingly staged, masterfully performed and effectively directed and edited that it evokes an unshakeable sense of separation: the show’s perfection is why so few people can access (or afford) the live version, and so it’s hard to shed the feeling that this film is in some way a consolation prize to Swift’s tens of millions of worldwide fans.
On the other hand, having a big screen release of the movie (and the proactive filming of the movie at all) make at least some part of Eras’ record-breaking run accessible to audiences in any capacity. Getting at least this version of the show in and of itself is still tremendously fun at watch - and yes, sing along to.
A note for younger Swift fans and their parents: while the film is rated PG, there are several songs that have one-word use of adult language, and none of it censored. If this were a traditional film, it would be rated 14A, but aside from several bad words in the lyrics, the film is otherwise quite tame and otherwise fine for all ages.
This author may not be a Taylor Swift expert, but I have actually seen most of her previous filmography. While I prefer her more intimate 2020 film Folklore (available to stream on Disney+ for subscribers), I digress that this is her first music/movie hybrid that really justifies the big screen treatment.
Diehard fans are likely uninterested in my opinion as an admitted novice in the world of Taylor Swift research. More casual moviegoers will still find great merit and a lot of great music to be engaged with Eras Tour - however elitist in tone, it’s still an impressive and easily enjoyable concert.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
9 out of 10
PG, 2hrs 49mins. Music Epic.
Directed by Sam Wrench.
Starring Taylor Swift.
Now Playing at Film.Ca Cinemas, 5 Drive-In, Cineplex Winston Churchill & VIP and Cineplex Oakville & VIP. Also in IMAX.
