“Taylor Swift’s new documentary gives us a deeply moving insight into the woman behind the empire”

It’s an exciting day for her fans. Not only do we have two episodes a week to see us through to Boxing Day, but a new Eras tour film is now available to stream, complete with an additional section for The Tortured Poets Department, which was added mid-way through the tour. There’s so much to enjoy if you need a reminder of the record-breaking tour that became a pop culture phenomenon.

The first 11 minutes of this fly-on-the-wall series were optimistic and moving. We opened on Swift in a pre-show huddle with her dancers, giving them a pep-talk before they took to the stage. Her mind wanders, she explains, when she contemplates how grateful she is for them. “I think about every single one of you as little kids. I think about the moment that you decided that dancing was your calling or the moment you saw a band and saved up for an instrument.” She is clearly so proud of them.

We’re reminded of the magic of the tour. We see the fans, their outfits, the friendship bracelets, the shared joy. It’s enough to take you back to those summer days, watching TikTok footage of the previous night’s concert when you woke up, and preparing your outfit if you were lucky enough to get tickets

When I sat down to watch Taylor Swift’s new documentary this morning, I had no idea it would move me to tears. Fan or otherwise, I think you need to watch this. 

Disney+ released the first two episodes of The End Of An Era, a six-part docuseries about Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, this morning. This is undoubtedly the most candid access we have ever had to Swift. 

It’s an exciting day for her fans. Not only do we have two episodes a week to see us through to Boxing Day, but a new Eras tour film is now available to stream, complete with an additional section for The Tortured Poets Department, which was added mid-way through the tour. There’s so much to enjoy if you need a reminder of the record-breaking tour that became a pop culture phenomenon.

The first 11 minutes of this fly-on-the-wall series were optimistic and moving. We opened on Swift in a pre-show huddle with her dancers, giving them a pep-talk before they took to the stage. Her mind wanders, she explains, when she contemplates how grateful she is for them. “I think about every single one of you as little kids. I think about the moment that you decided that dancing was your calling or the moment you saw a band and saved up for an instrument.” She is clearly so proud of them.

We’re reminded of the magic of the tour. We see the fans, their outfits, the friendship bracelets, the shared joy. It’s enough to take you back to those summer days, watching TikTok footage of the previous night’s concert when you woke up, and preparing your outfit if you were lucky enough to get tickets. 

Credit: Getty

But mere minutes into the fairytale, we’re hit with reminders of the Eras tourmoments we weren’t able to celebrate. We see her Vienna dates being cancelled due to an Islamic State-inspired terror threat. We watch her break down in tears as she tries to explain that there has been a terror attack in Southport. Three children, aged 6–11, were murdered in a massacre at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, and she can’t speak about it. An innocent community was hijacked by pure evil, and now she is reflecting.

“I’m meeting the families tonight,” she tells us, having organised for survivors and victims’ families to spend time with her before her shows in Wembley. She cries as she explains: “I won’t do this, I swear to God. I’ll be smiling. Any of this gets out the way before you go on stage, you lock it off. Three and a half hours, they don’t have to worry about you.”

I found myself crying with her. The whole situation is incomprehensible. The responsibility she feels in this moment, it’s clear, is to do anything in her power to bring them any small semblance of comfort.