“This Is Us”

By Megan Bormann

It’s time to take it back to 2013. The British boy band One Direction has taken the world by storm and released a documentary-style movie about how they started the band. Directed by Morgan Spurlock, the film follows Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson around the world on their Take Me Home tour. 

One of the saddest moments of the film is at the beginning when the five boys were almost sent home from the X-Factor. Fetus Harry Styles sobbing into his beanie is a sight that could melt the iciest heart. The sorrow is soon forgotten when the five boys are launched into super-stardom after they are put together as a group. 

Blending moments from the tour bus and backstage antics with live performances of songs creates something special for the audience. We get to rock out to unreleased songs, like their cover of Wheatus’s “Teenage Dirtbag,” and tear up to “Little Things.” The most notable moment of the film is when the boys get to go home and see their families for the first time in months. As fans, we can see the strain that the industry and a grueling schedule has on artists and the people they love. 

Despite that, this film provides a heartwarming glance into one of the biggest boy bands of our generation and how people around the world were affected by their music.