Travelogue, visual poem and album ‘making of’, with some world-tour footage thrown in for good measure, this restless Arcade Fire doc doesn’t know if it wants to rattle or hum. The enigmatic band gives virtuoso music-video director Kahlil Joseph access to its Haitian influences but keep the audience rather more at arm’s length from their creative process.
The final effect adds a distancing glaze to a band already deep in the myth-making business, and a somewhat half-hearted welcome to its world. But among the arty ocean cutaways, black-and-white interludes and skittish montages is more than enough of the band’s ever-more confident music and dazzling live performances to keep fans happy. Sadly, Andrew Garfield, the cross-dressing star of the band’s We Exist video, doesn’t pop up for a cameo.